Beings in Need
by thepencilunleashed
Summary: Finn is still hurt after his break-up with Flame Princess. He's become virtually inactive, staying in the house all day. What Finn really needs is a new friend. Then, Finn meets someone new, someone who needs Finn just as much as he needs them...has Finn found the answer to his problems?
1. Chapter 1: Forced Outisde

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Beings in Need

By thepencilunleashed

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Chapter One:

Forced Outside

Finn was simply bored. Jake was away at Lady's visiting his kids, and nobody needed saving. BMO was charging, so Finn couldn't even play video games. All he could do was stare out the window beside his bed and watch the sun make its arc across the sky.

_This should take up some time,_ Finn thought. _It's not even the afternoon yet. Plenty of time left for the sun to stay in the sky._

"So..." Finn said to himself. "What now?" There was no answer, besides the occasional _beep_ of BMO charging his batteries.

It was a nice day outside. Perfect temperature, no wind, but Finn was too depressed to go outside and do anything. Or too lazy, maybe both. Either way, Finn had a debate in his mind. _Go outside? Stay inside? _What to do. What to do.

It was amazing to Finn how he could debate about something so simple for so long. In fact, he debated until the small sound of the door opening and closing announced that Jake was home.

_Finally! _Finn thought with relief. Now he could do something.

"HEY JAAAAAAKE!" Finn yelled. He waved his arms, running down the stairs, but his foot caught on the third step. "WAAUUGH!" Finn cried, waving his arms to try and regain his balance. It was no use, though. Finn went tumbling down the stairs, feeling bruises blossom on his arms, legs, and face. _Bonk! Crash! Bam! Slam!_ Finally, he landed on his face at the bottom of the stairs, right at Jake's feet.

There was a moment of silence. "Man." Jake said, staring at Finn. "What got into you?" Finn mumbled something back at Jake, keeping his face on the floor.

"OK, man, you're not a sad loser like the Ice King. Get up." Jake commanded. He used his long arms to raise Finn's upper body by the elbows, helping Finn as he rose to his battered feet.

"_Yeesh!_" Jake exclaimed, dropping Finn's arms quickly. Finn staggered forward, almost falling again, but he caught himself this time.

"What the heck, man?" Finn angrily exclaimed, wiping a trickle of blood off the corner of his mouth.

Jake laughed a little. "Sorry, dude, but your face..." Jake pinched Finn's cheek and laughed again. "...It's jacked up."

Finn tried to laugh along with Jake, but he couldn't. "It's not funny, man." He said in an offended tone. "How bad is it?"

"Bad enough. A spot above your right eye is all purplish, and the corner of your mouth is bleeding a little." Jake observed.

"Aw, glob." Finn said, sitting down on the last stairstep and covering his bruise with his hand. His ears on his hat flopped down to match his upset mood. "I probably look so ugly-"

"-Like the Ice King." Jake finished, snickering.

Finn laughed a little.

"Well, on the bright side, you look so scary that all the creeps'll probably run away from you. " Jake pointed out, bearing his teeth jokingly.

"Well, that's too bad, 'cause I'm not going outside today." Finn said stubbornly. He wiped a streak of blood away from his mouth.

"Man, come on, don't be a wuss. You really think that Flame Princess will be out there, waiting for you to show up so she can rub her pain in your face?" Jake said, and Finn flinched at his ex-girlfriend's name. He puffed up his chest, trying to look brave.

"That's it, man. Now go outside! Nature is the best healer." Jake said, and he hurriedly extended his arm and shoved Finn out the nearby door.


	2. Chapter 2: Who Are You?

Chapter Two:

Who are You?

The perfect weather rubbed itself in Finn's face and wounds, almost as if it were saying, "We can make _our_ perfection hurt, just for you, Finn!" But Finn just ignored it. Well, he tried to, anyways.

"So, where should I go now?" Finn asked himself. He heard nothing in response. Staring around, he considered his possible options. Go to the Ice King's land and throw snowballs at his window until he got mad? Nah. Go and do some quests for Hot Dog Princess? No, she'd just keep me way too busy all day. Get a piece of pie from Tree Trunks and Mr. Pig? Tempting, but he'd just eaten; he wasn't hungry.

Finn stared at a nearby tree, trying to think of a place he hadn't been yet. Scanning the surrounding area for anything new and exciting, he found...a huge rock. A big pile of boulders. Not exactly the most interesting thing to do, but the rocks were far away, walking to them would kill some time.

_What the heck?_ Finn thought. _They're just rocks, what's the harm?_ And so Finn set for the pile of boulders far away.

Earlier than he expected, Finn reached the boulders. Turns out it was a ring of boulders instead of a pile. Like that made it any more interesting.

"A ring of rocks." Finn said aloud. "There's _got _to be a way to make this more entertaining." So Finn set about. He danced while saying, "A ring of rocks! A ring of rocks!" He tried to do cartwheels while singing, "_A riiiIIIIIiiing of roooooooccckss!"_ He even ran his hand up and down his throat as he spoke, making him sound like a robot while he said, "A riIiIiIiIing offff roOoOoOocks!"

Finn was really getting in to it, and as he went to attempt a handstand, a voice said, "_Will you shut up?_"

Finn immediately tumbled down from his handstand, instinctively bringing his Blade of Grass sword into his hand.

Where had the voice come from? It seemed like it had been brought by the wind, not like it had come from an actual person.

"Oh, please, there's no need for _that_!" The voice said. It was definitely a girl's voice, and it was definitely coming from the new breeze. Before Finn could react, the grass underneath his hand grew as fast as it could, reached up like a hand, plucked his sword out of his hand, and threw it inside the ring of rocks!

"Hey!" Finn yelled into the wind. "Who are you? Show yourself?" Finn commanded, even though he didn't have his sword and probably didn't look like much of an opponent.

"Well" The voice said dreamily, and when it spoke, the wind washed over Finn, making him smell a strange scent of pine trees, blooming flowers, and pollen. "If you want to see me, just go into the ring. Fetch your sword, little hero." The voice giggled and vanished, taking the lovely scent with it.

Finn wasn't scared. He'd faced the Lich, so he could handle this! Just a silly, stupid girl...wherever she was.

Finn's boots felt heavy with every step he took towards the ring, where he noticed that the grass and flowers inside seemed to be darker, better cared for. His palms began to sweat, his hat began to feel fuzzy and warm, and Finn's hands shook slightly.

Finally, Finn reached the outside of the ring. Climbing on top of a low boulder, he took a deep _whoof_ of breath, pushed off with his hands, and slid into the ring.

Strangely, nothing bad happened. Instead, Finn felt oddly light, and the wind became stronger, so Finn smelled that amazing flower-pine-tree-pollen scent form before.

The sweat subsided, the shaking went away, and Finn felt...free. His deep guilt in his gut from Flame Princess was even lightened, just a little bit. Whatever kind of magic was inside this circle, Finn wanted more of it.

With quick steps, Finn reached his shiny sword, and pulled it into his hand. The familiar, balanced blade made Finn feel good. Taking another delicious breath of the smell, Finn turned and spoke to the breeze. "All right, I have my sword, I'm in the ring, so come out!" Finn wanted to add, _Or I'll make you! _But he couldn't really do that.

There was silence. Then, the wind began to pick up, sending that wonderful scent into Finn's nose one last time. The breeze gathered in the center of the ring, and it seemed to thicken into a cloud, like it was making a figure, until the spiral of wind became more pronounced, like there was a mummy inside, (at this thought, Finn raised his sword) and the wind began to die down, slowly fading until a most peculiar creature stood where it once swirled.

The creature had the same build as a female human, but the skin was green, like freshly watered grass. Her body was covered by a dress made of brown, green, and yellow leaves, all joined together, but it didn't seem like they were sewn, it seemed like the leaves joined together themselves, happy to make a dress for this being. Her hair was also green, but it was green like a pine tree, darker than her skin. The girl had large eyes that changed color, from green to brown. A light spray of dark green freckles dotted the area around her nose, and her skin was smooth and natural-looking, like she didn't have to use moisturizer. Perched on top of her green hair sat a crown molded of sticks and emeralds, forming one that kings seemed to wear. The girl wore no shoes, and she wore a quizzical expression on her face.

Finn stared at the girl for a moment, and the girl stared back. The sword went a little slack in his hand, but he never dropped it completely, even though this girl seemed harmless. Besides her strange green skin and hair, most people would have seen her as beautiful. Most people _not _including Finn, who saw her as a sort-of enemy now.

"Wh-who are you?" Finn asked, trying to conceal the blush creeping up his cheeks. The girl stared a minute more before answering, "It depends."

"What?" Finn asked, holding his sword tightly.

The girl blinked. "I have a very long name. The names of all the plants in Ooo have been combined to form my own name. It's an important name." The girl said. She sounded around Finn's age, but haughty and superior, with a proud tone that made Finn feel less important than this girl.

"So." Finn swallowed, and he inhaled some of that fresh scent that had come back. "What should I call you?"

"That depends." The girl said in an icy tone. "What should I call you?"

Finn blushed a little bit more, but acted brave. "Finn." He whispered.

The girl arched her eyebrows. "Hm. Finn." She glanced at his sword. "An adventurer?"

Finn nodded.

The girl scowled, which made Finn almost cower, but he stood his ground. "You don't tend to use _fire_, do you?" She asked in a disgusted tone.

This question caught Finn off guard, and it made him think of Flame Princess, which seemed to hit him in the gut.

"No." Finn managed to croak out. "But somebody I used to know does."

"Somebody you used to know?" The girl tossed her long green hair over her shoulder, sending a whiff of a fresh scent towards Finn.

Finn ignored this question. "What do I call you?" Finn demanded an answer.

The girl looked Finn up and down, studied him, from his boots to his hat. A thin smile began to form on her face, which felt good. When she smiled, a wave of something soothing bathed Finn, making him feel calm and sleepy.

"I can tell that you're nice." The girl said, and the compliment sent another wave of something soothing over Finn. It was like magic; he wanted to get more compliments from this stranger.

"I'll tell you my nickname." The girl said. "As long as you promise not to tell it to anyone, or to use fire."

Finn stared at the girl's eyes, which were now brown. "I Promise." He croaked.

The girl looked pleased. "You may call me...Chlorella. The girl blinked twice. "Don't tell anyone!" She smiled, revealing dazzling white teeth, which made Finn's insides almost melt.

Finn made a kind-of crazy side-smile, nodded his face, straightened his back, and stepped haughtily towards the edge of the ring. Just before he exited the ring, the girl Chlorella disappeared, but the wind gathered by Finn's ear and seemed to whisper to him, "Come and visit me tomorrow." Then, the gentle breeze seemed to plant a kiss on Finn's cheek, and it dissolved.

Finn left the ring, and as he walked home, the blade of grass wrapped around his wrist, he tried out the name. "Chlorella. Klo-rell-a. Klo-_rell_-a." When he reached the doorstep of his house, the warm feeling in his cheek dissolved, making Finn promise to himself that he'd visit tomorrow.


	3. Chapter 3: A Day in the Ring

Chapter Three:

Another Day in the Ring

The other day, Finn walked downstairs, fully dressed and with his backpack swung over his shoulder, to see Jake preparing Bacon Pancakes while wearing a pink, flowery apron.

"Hey Jake." Finn said casually, sliding into an empty seat. He plopped his backpack onto the ground beside him.

"Hey, Finn." Jake flipped a pancake. "How're your bruises healing up?"

Finn had almost forgotten about his staircase tumble. Examining his body, he found that all the bruises were gone; Chlorella's magic must have healed them!

"They're all healed, actually." Finn told Jake, trying to sound surprised. Eager to change the subject, Finn said, "How're your kids?"

"Oh, they're doing fine." Jake said, flipping two more pancakes. "TV's getting a little bit of an attitude, but I'm sure we'll be able to fix it. So," Jake slid two pancakes onto a plate beside him. "What'd you do yesterday when I made you go outside?" Jake snickered a bit, remembering the other day.

"Oh, um.." Finn debated for a minute whether or not to tell Jake about Chlorella, but he soon decided to tell the truth; Jake was his bro! "I saw this ring of rocks.."

"Mhm"

"So I went to it..."

"Go on..."

"And I met this...girl." Finn cringed, waiting for Jake to make some remark.

"Was she hot?" Jake snickered.

"Jake!"

"What? I'm just saying..." Seeing the upset look in Finn's eyes, Jake dropped the teasing.

"I don't _like_ her." Finn said with a note of disgust. "She's- she's weird, all green, she doesn't wear shoes, and her eyes change color, and she's all-" Finn rambled on, trying to convince Jake that he was still hungover about Flame Princess, and he was only silenced when Jake slid a platter of three Bacon Pancakes in front of him, piled high.

"Eat." Jake said. "You have to if you're going to go see her again."

"I didn't say that I was." Finn told Jake. "But I am."

"Ha!" Jake barked. "Gimme her name."

"I...I can't tell you."

"Why not, Finn, I'm your bro!"

"Yeah, but-"

"It's fine." Jake said, a little angrily. He pushed his plate of half-eaten pancakes towards Finn. "Go ahead and eat." As he stomped up the stairs, he muttered, "I'm not hungry."

"Jake, wait!" Finn arose from the table and ran to the stairs, but it was no use; Jake had climbed out the window and had stretched to giant size, walking on all fours to Lady Rainicorn's house.

"Gosh." Finn put his palm to his face. He'd just been a jerk to Jake! Had he done the right thing, keeping Chlorella's name a secret? The outside of Finn said no, but the inside said yes.

"I guess I better go see Chlorella." Finn said to the empty house. (BMO and Neptr were sleeping in.) Swinging his backpack onto his shoulder, Finn left, feeling the guilt of Jake being mixed with the guilt from Flame Princess.

When Finn reached the ring of rocks, he tried to ignore Chlorella; no more blushing, no more of that magic stuff from yesterday! He didn't need Chlorella mixed in with his feelings.

When Finn slid into the ring, he saw Chlorella sitting criss-cross on the grass, waving her long fingers over a spot of dirt in the clearing. With a few golden sparkles, a small Daisy sprouted from the ground and grew, blossoming and filling the ring with its lovely scent. That's when Chlorella's head snapped up and she noticed Finn.

"Oh, hey Flinn!"

"Finn." He corrected her.

"Sorry. Finn." She assured herself, standing up. Today her green hair was in a bun on the back of her head, and she was wearing a dress the color of watered grass. "So what's up?"

Finn felt a little akward, talking to a girl he'd just met like she was an old friend, but he relented. "Nothing much." He scuffed the grass with his boot.

"Ouch!" Chlorella said. She rubbed a spot on her elbow and said, "Stop that!"

"What?" Finn stopped scuffing the grass.

"That hurts." Chlorella said, without explanation.

"Um...why does that hurt, exactly?" Finn asked stupidly.

"Because!' Chlorella said harshly. "Every plant here has a soul. When they get hurt, I feel it!" She tried to refrain from yelling.

"Uh, I-I'm sorry." Finn said akwardly, kneeling to apologize to the grass.

"It doesn't matter." Chlorella said harshly. "They're dead."

Finn looked at the spot on her elbow, and saw a lime green liquid dribbling from a cut above the funnybone. The gentleman in Finn cried out; he couldn't let a lady suffer! In his panic, Finn said to Chlorella, "Hang on, I'll bandage it!" , ran to the nearest Magnolia tree, and ripped off one of the large leaves.

"Auugh!" Chlorella wailed. Another small cut appeared near the first one and began oozing the lime green liquid.

"I-I'm so sorry!" Finn said. "Do you still want me to-"

"No! No, just-just go away!" Chlorella shakily sat down and buried her face into her knees.

It was complete silence. Finn couldn't even hear Chlorella or himself breathing. The wind didn't even flutter. But when Finn stood there for a minute more, he began to hear a muffled crying coming from Chlorella. He could see her forehead resting against her knees, lime green tears coming from her eyes.

Gently, as if to sneak up on her, Finn stepped towards Chlorella's injured elbow and took a very gentle seat apon the grass. Thankfully, she didn't notice. She just kept crying, and where the lime green tears slid off her face and into the grass, a little patch of clover grew.

Finn didn't know what to do. He still held the smooth Magnolia leaf in his hand, and he let it drop as if he were holding a bomb, so he wouldn't offend Chlorella.

For awhile it was just Chlorella's tears, the sound of her crying in the silence. She was still, Finn was still by her side, nothing seemed to move. It seemed that the entire world of nature around them was being silent for the girl, not wanting her to cry. Then, Chlorella gingerly stretched out her injured arm, and Finn scootched away to give her room.

Chlorella lowered her arm into the soft green grass, and the minute her elbow touched the ground, a deep green glow seemed to come from within the earth. Finn watched in amazement as the cuts slowly closed, and Chlorella's last tear drifted down from her still face and onto the ground.

As the glow faded, Chlorella examined her fading cuts, and wiped her eyes. She stood up, and Finn felt the need to do the same. He actually wasn't sure what to do; he'd never seen a girl get injured and cry before.

"Um, how's your arm?" Finn asked. He expected her to be angry at him for killing the grass and leaf.

Chlorella sniffled. Putting on a brave face, she replied quietly, "I'm fine." In an eager attempt to change the subject, she asked, "Do you know who I am?"

"No." Finn replied after some silence.

"I'm the Princess of Nature." Chlorella explained. "I control the plants and stuff. I can use them to do magic, heal, and fight. I already explained about my name." She added. "But my nickname is Chlorella because when I bleed, I don't bleed real blood. You saw that. I bleed and cry a green substance called Chlorophyll. When I was young, I shortened it to Chlorella." Chlorella wiped a tiny drop of a tear off her cheek and balanced it on her finger, letting Finn see the tiny drop of lime green substance. "Chlorophyll is highly prized among the other people. My kind is murdered for it. Warlocks use it in their spells. A teaspoon of Chlorophyll, they'll call for. It's inhumane." Chlorella flicked the tear into the grass, and a four-leaf clover sprouted there.

Finn was awed. "What exactly is your kind?"

Chlorella had to think for a minute. "I've almost forgotten, since I'm the only one left." Chlorella tried to laugh, but it just didn't work. "My mother told me that I am a _Herbe Fille_, but most people used to call my kind Nature Nymphs, although I am a Nature Princess."

"Your family." Finn recalled. "Are they-"

"Oh, It's getting late!" Chlorella exclaimed, looking at the slowly setting sun. "You'd better go. Bye Finn!" Chlorella rushed Finn towards the exit, but Finn still had one more question. Two, actually.

"Chlorella, wait!" Finn exclaimed, just before he slid off to the opposite side of the ring. He felt that he could ask this fairly akward question now, since he and Chlorella were sort of friends.

"Yeah?"

"Did you.." Finn gulped. "Did you kiss me last night?" The question sounded childish in the now half-darkness.

Chlorella took a step back. "No, Finn, no! The Wind Spirits did that. I had the send the message, and they planted one on you, to stir up drama."

"Oh." Finn said, relieved. "And your family- where are they?"

Finn swore that Chlorella paled. "Finn." Chlorella's voice was hoarse. "I don't really like to talk about it." She was almost whispering. "But I'll tell you." Chlorella sat in silence for a moment, then whispered quietly, "_They're dead._"

"Oh...oh." Finn blushed, amazed that he had been stupid enough to ask a seriously off-limits question to a girl he'd just met, but at the same time admiring Chlorella for something that she'd obviously had trouble saying out loud. He'd known how hard that is.

"I'll go now." Finn began to slide off the rock.

"Finn, wait just a second." Chlorella stepped forward in the almost full darkness, rustling the grass. She outstretched her arm slightly, then put it back down.

"Yeah?" Finn asked gently.

Chlorella tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear. "Um.." She tapped her foot a little bit. "Come and visit me tomorrow?"

Finn smiled faintly in the full darkness.

"Sure, Chlorella. Sure."


	4. Chapter 4: The Collapsing

Chapter Four:

The Collapsing

It was about 10:00 AM, and Finn was playing BMO with Jake; a new video game called _Shot Man 2_. The goal was to defeat the opponent using weapons made from food products.

The Eight-Bit game was amazingly realistic, to Finn and Jake. Finn wore a baked burrito helmet, and a set of banana peel armor. He wielded a sword made of a burned baguette.

Jake was a strong opponent. He wore a full set of tamale armor, and he was armed with a cookie machete.

It was the final match now. Jake and Finn were playing as two twin brothers with identical faces. Pressing their attack buttons violently, they jumped and swerved and sliced, until finally Jake was cornered.

Finn advanced on him with his baguette held high, ready to slice.

"I've got you now, Jake!" Finn said triumphantly.

"I don't think so!" Jake said. Just as Finn took a single step closer, Jake pressed a tiny blue button in the upper left-hand corner of his remote. Jake's character turned his back to Finn, faced the wall, bent down, and let loose. A loud farting noise played from BMO's speakers, and a puff of pink smoke shot from Jake's character's butt. Donuts and pizza slices also flew out, smacking Finn's character in the face.

It was just too much. Finn watched in horror as his health bar depleted, his character fell to the ground, and red letters on the screen announced that Player One had Won.

"Aw, what!" Finn exclaimed, and Jake cracked up with laughter. These festivities were soon interrupted before Finn could get mad by a loud _BUZZ, BUZZ, BUZZ _sound. In a second, Finn found that the vibrating noise was coming from his pocket, and he pulled out the buzzing object to reveal a pink transmitter crystal that Princess Bubblegum had given him to communicate.

"Who is it?" Jake asked.

"It's PB!" Finn replied, and he tossed the crystal into the air. Before it could hit the ground and shatter, it began to hang suspended in midair, and a pink hologram shot from it, revealing PB in her usual dress, standing with her hands behind her back, waiting for Finn to pick up.

"Finn!" PB said in a static-y voice.

"Hey princess. What's up?" Finn sat back on the couch.

"Yeah, princess, what's shakin'? You need us for something?" Jake asked, putting down his controller.

"Actually, I do." PB replied. "You see, there's someone I want you guys to meet."

"Who?" Finn and Jake both ask simultaneously.

"That's the thing." PB said. "This is too important to speak of over transmission. See you soon!" PB quickly hung up, and the crystal floated back to Finn, and he put it in his pocket.

"Who do you think she wants us to meet?" Finn asked, standing up from the couch.

"I don't know, man, but whoever it is, they better not mess with PB!" Jake said, stretching to the door and opening it. "Ladies first." He said.

"Shut up, man." Finn said jokingly, shoving Jake lightly as he walked out the door.

Finn only made it out the door before he felt like someone was watching him. Turning towards the Ring of Rocks, which was far away, he saw Chlorella perched upon a boulder, watching him. She was wearing a knee-length dress made of the petals of a Magnolia flower, and her hair was in a bun again, but two strands of hair framed each side of her face. Once she saw Finn, she waved.

Finn cupped his hands over his mouth. "HEEEYYYY!" He shouted. Finn didn't find this creepy at all. He considered Chlorella to be a friend now.

Chlorella slipped down off the rock, and seemed to be talking to someone. After nodding to nobody in particular, she ran towards Finn, and soon reached him, panting a little bit.

"Hey, Chlor." Finn said.

"Hey, Finn." Chlorella replied.

"Whoa." Jake said, stretching all around Chlorella to get a good look at her. "This the girl that you told me about?"

"Yeah. Jake, this is- do you mind if I tell him, Chlor?" Finn asked.

"No, he seems trustworthy." Chlorella replied.

"This is Chlorella. She's the Princess of Nature. She can control plants and all that stuff." Finn explained.

"Cool. Nice to meet you. I'm Jake." Jake said, stretching back to his normal length.

"Nice to meet you too." Chlorella did a little curtsey. "Are you Finn's friend?"

"No, I'm his brother."

Chlorella didn't even seem a little bit wierded out by this. "Neat." She simply replied. She turned to Finn. "Where are you guys going?"

"We're going to see another Princess in the area. Wanna come? I'm sure she won't mind." Finn offered.

"Sure! The wind spirits look after me, 'cause there's none of my kind left, and they normally don't let me out of my ring, because the ring is infused with magic that only lets me and those pure of heart enter. They feel that I need to be protected, but they said that they felt I was OK with you." Chlorella babbled.

"That's awesome." Jake said, before Finn could reply. "Hop onto my back, and we'll be there in no time."

A few seconds later, Chlorella and Finn rode on Jake's back, towering high above the trees. At first, Finn was worried that Chlorella would be afraid of the height, but she proved to love it, and she even climbed back to sit on Jake's tail so that she could get a nice view. While Chlorella was back at Jake's tail, Finn clung to Jake's neck, and they talked.

"So, Chlorella seems nice." Jake whispered to Finn.

"Yeah." Finn whispered into Jake's enormous floppy ear.

"How good of friends are you?"

"I'd say we're about a five on the Friends Scale."

"How'd you escalate that quickly?"

"I saw her get hurt and cry." Finn said simply.

"Ok. That's Ok. That's cool." Jake snickered.

"She's ok now." Finn turned to see Chlorella standing one-footed on Jake's tail. Smiling, he turned back to listen to Jake.

"What do you think the Princess wants?"

"I don't know. Maybe she caught an Ice King spy?"

"We can find out right now; Here's the Candy Kingdom."

Finn saw it in front of him; the enormous walls, the Gumball Guardians, the sugary houses, and PB's castle. As Jake began to shrink, Finn crawled back to get Chlorella.

"We're nearing the kingdom." Finn explained. Chlorella stopped her handstand she was attempting and crawled forward to sit behind Finn on Jake's spine as they quickly neared the ground.

When Finn, Jake, and Chlorella entered Princess Bubblegum's sitting room on the top floor, they saw a strange sight; a sleepy-looking Princess Bubblegum talking to her previous suitor, Broco.

"What?" Finn shouted. "Why is _he_ here?" Finn drew his sword and Jake grew his front paws to be gigantic knuckles, while poor Chlorella looked confused.

"Finn, don't be crazy." PB said sleepily. "Broco is meant to be here. Isn't that right?" She turned to Broco, who took her hand and replied, "That's right."

"Whaaaaaaa?" Finn let out a sound of confusement, and Princess Bubblegum laughed and let out a loud yawn. "Allow me to explain." She said. She gestured them all onto a couch, taking no notice of Chlorella.

"You see, Broco visited me last night. He was crying. He told me that P-Bot and him weren't working out. He found it inhumane to be loving a robot that resembled me. I finally realized who he was, why he was here. He was born to love me, but he wasn't made to love me. His love is natural. I've never known love before this. True love." Princess Bubblegum grasped Broco's hand tighter.

"I love Princess Bubblegum." Broco explained, and he sounded real, sincere. "She said that I had truly shown her what love is, and she invited me inside, saying that I had won her heart."

"We were up all night talking, discussing this new found romance." PB said, and she kissed Braco on the cheek.

"Princess, you can't be serious!" Finn stood up from his seat, fueled with anger. PB was making a mistake, he was sure of it.

"Don't talk to her like that!" Broco commanded Finn.

PB's face showed utter betrayal. "Finn, you don't understand! I understand him, I know him, I-"

"Princess, you're the smartest person I know!" Finn yelled, but he already felt guilty, seeing PB's face. Chlorella and Jake just stared at him and PB, open mouthed. "But you're being really dumb right now! Think! He's tried in the past! What makes it different now?"

"Don't you insult her like that!" Broco yelled, fuming with anger.

"Finn, you need to listen to me!" She let go of Broco's hand and began to shout. "I need him! He needs me! I love him!"

"No you don't you don't understand him! He's a nobody!" Finn shouted.

"Shut your mouth!" Broco yelled.

"Yeah, be quiet! You never knew anything about love! You lost your first girlfriend for some stupid dream!" PB began to shriek.

"Princess, rethink this! It's crazy, _you're crazy_-"

"Don't talk to my girlfriend like-"

" _**BANANA GUARDS!**_**" **Princess Bubblegum shouted at the top of her lungs, and a troop of Banana Guards marched inside, spears pointed towards Finn, awaiting orders.

"Get them out of my sight!" PB covered her face with her hand and broke down to her knees, sobbing. Broco knelt down beside her, putting his arm over her shoulder and glaring at Finn.

The Banana Guards marched forward quickly, and Jake and Chlorella quickly stood up from the benches. Jake gave Finn a shocked look, but the look on Chlorella's face made Finn's heart tumble to his stomach. She was surprised at him. He was a horrible person.

"We need to go!" Finn yelled. He grabbed Chlorella's hand and hoisted her onto Jake's expanding back. Jake grew, struggling against the roof, trying to crack it. The Banana Guards rushed around Jake, stabbing his ankles with their spears, causing him to yell out in pain.

Finn felt his hat pressing against the roof, causing him to bend his neck. He felt Chlorella bend her head too, and he felt her wrap her hands tightly around his waist as the roof cracked, sending showers of dust down from the ceiling. She was scared. The Banana Guards were now leaving Jake with his bleeding ankles, trying to escort the sobbing Princess Bubblegum and Broco out of the castle. "It's going to collapse!" They cried. "Run!"

All the people in the castle rushed outside, far away, but PB was still struggling to walk out of the castle. She was stumbling around, sobbing, blindly clutching Broco's hand as he persistently led her towards an open window where the Banana Guards had set a ladder for her to escape down to the ground with Broco.

When Finn felt that his head was about to snap, Jake burst through the ceiling, sending large chunks of of the roof tumbling down, squishing numerous Banana Guards but missing PB and Broco. Finn felt his head burst through a hole in the ceiling, and the pieces around him fell. Just as they thought they were going to make it, he heard a feminine scream. Looking down, he saw something that scared the life out of him.

Chlorella had been hit by a piece of falling matter, and she was sliding off Jake's back, towards the collapsing castle floor. Just as she began to fall, Finn instinctively reached out and grabbed her outstretched green hand.

Although there was chaos around him, Finn heard almost complete silence. The noise was all in the background. He saw the fear in Chlorella's eyes, the look in them.

_Don't let me fall_. He somehow heard her whisper in the chaos. A lime green tear ran down her fearful face.

_Don't worry, _Finn whispered back. _I won't_.

Finn held Chlorella's hand, grasping her wrist. Summoning all his strength, he tried his hardest to lift Chlorella higher as Jake's whole back burst through the roof, and Chlorella's body mannaged to find an opening in the collapsing ceiling.

Finn felt sweat running down his head, but he saw Chlorella being slowly, slowly lifted as Jake's foot found a hold on the roof and he began to lift his other limbs out. His body tilted as he climbed, making it harder to pull Chlorella up. His hand shook as he tried to yank his arm up, and for a dreadful minute; he was holding her only by her fingers...

At last, Chlorella was lifted high enough so that she could place her foot on Jake's side and crawl up onto his back. Finn pulled her up by the arm, and helped her get up by pulling her by the waist. He didn't stop pulling and sweating until she was safe on Jake's back behind him, felt her hands wrapped tightly around him, and felt her face buried in his shoulder, crying from fear. The noise around Finn came back into focus; Chlorella was safe with him.

Jake managed to get all his feet onto partially stable points of the roof. He stretched out his feet all the way to the ground below, and he stretch-walked away from the kingdom as the castle tumbled to the ground, not knowing if PB was safe or not.


	5. Chapter 5: What I Want

Chapter Five:

I Know What I Want

It was nighttime when Jake, Finn, and Chlorella finally reached the Ring of Rocks. When they reached it, Chlorella walked down on the staircase Jake made for her with his body and only said a simple, "Goodbye, guys. And thanks, Finn" before she disappeared into the wind.

That night, Jake and Finn only talked a little bit about the escape. Finn explained the bit about Chlorella dangling by his fingers, but less dramatically. Jake healed himself up, but he was mostly concerned whether PB would send someone to arrest them, but nobody came, which was nice because that night, Finn needed the silence to think.

As he lay in bed in his red pajamas, Finn had some deep thoughts. Something had changed when Finn saw Chlorella's life dangling in his fingers, her expression, knowing that she trusted him to get her out of there alive.

_This is so annoying_, Finn thought. _Something has changed, I can feel it, but I don't know what it is!_

Finn was tossing and turning all night. He wriggled in and out of his sleeping bag. He tried sleeping under his actual blankets for once. He couldn't abandon the idea, but he couldn't stand not knowing the change. So Finn decided to focus on his main personal event of that day. He had saved Chlorella's life.

Finn had no trouble picturing the scene. It was burned into his brain. Chlorella's eyes were wide and full of fear. A lime green tear was tracing down her cheek, past her dark freckles. Finn was holding her up by the wrist. The air was littered with so much dust and debris that he could only make out the faint outlines of people below, sometimes seeing a spear point here or a head here or a leg there. Jake was tilted to the side a little bit.

He found no explanation in the actual event, so he focused on what he felt inside, how he felt when Chlorella was dangling, when she was safe. Well, when she was dangling, he was scared.

Scared of what, he asked himself. Scared that she would die, that he would lose her. A bell rang somewhere off in the depths of Finn's mind, but he'd need more evidence before he knew what was truly changed.

So now he studied how he felt after she was saved. He was relieved to have her OK, alive, but why? She was his friend, but he felt that there was something going on with himself there, too. In that instant, it hit him.

Finn yelled a little bit, and he squirmed so much in his sleeping bag that he fell to the floor...landing on his face.

Finn freed himself from the bag and rubbed his face. Luckily, there were no bruises, and he hadn't woken Jake. He was a heavy sleeper.

Breathing heavily, Finn realized the truth had struck him. He was afraid that Chlorella would die in that collapsing castle, because he felt like he was going to lose something that was his own. Something near and dear to him.

Finn staggered out to the window and opened it, letting fresh air in and taking off his hat to cool off.

In that moment when Chlorella's life had been in his hands, there was no "poor me, I lost my girlfriend" feeling. He was now realizing how stupid that was. He was sulking over some girl when he could be in danger at any minute. That was the life of an adventurer like him.

Finn stuck his head out the window and brushed his blonde hair out of his eyes. The truth was overwhelming. He knew what he wanted in life. He didn't want Flame Princess.

He wanted Chlorella.

Until then, Finn had never realized how much he liked Chlorella. He didn't just love her when she was going to die, he'd always liked her, but the feelings had been squashed by his loss of Flame Princess. Now that he was open to the world again, he knew his next step in life. Now that he was over Flame Princess, he could finally date again without feeling bad. So that was what he was going to do next. He was going to take Chlorella out on a date. If she goes with him.

Finn's excitement was replaced by fear and anxiousness. What if she said no? What if she didn't like him? This didn't last long, though.

_I'm not the same sulky Finn_, he thought to himself. _I won't be all depressed if she doesn't like me. We'll still be friends. I'll find someone else._

Finn was now really really really really really really EXCITED! It'd been so long since he had felt this way. He just had to tell Jake the news _right this second_.

"HEY JAAAAAKE!" Finn yelled at the top of his lungs and ran towards Jake's cupboard, vaulting over his bed. "WAAAAKE UUUUP!" He yelled, shaking Jake.

"What is it, Finn?" Jake asked groggily, with one eye still shut.

Finn was almost jumping up and down and singing from excitement.

"I'm going to ask Chlorella on a date!" He revealed.

Jake immediately perked up. He sat up straight in bed.

"Good for you, man!" Jake said, patting Finn's back. "Finally found someone else, huh? I knew you had somethin' for her!"

"Yeah, It's always been there, I just didn't know it, even though that probably sounds super cheesy. I'm not upset about Flame Princess anymore." Finn said proudly.

"That's nice. I'm gonna...sleep now..." Jake's head dropped onto his pillow and he was snoring immediately.

Before breakfast, Finn had everything planned. He made a little checklist to keep in his pocket just for this.

The Chlorella List

Step One: Wear nice clothes

Step Two: Smell good

Step Three: Grab the present, picnic basket, and poem

Step Four: Ask Chlorella out

Step Five: Bring Chlorella to spot

Step Six: Lay out picnic and eat, chat some

Step Seven: Read the poem

Step Eight: Give Chlorella the present

Step Nine: Be romantic

Step Ten: See how the rest goes...

Finn smiled, impressed with his own work. He double checked the picnic basket, which contained a special bottle of Apple Cider from Tree Trunks, an Apple Pie from Tree Trunks, fancy glasses, different kinds of sandwiches, trail mix, and some spaghetti. A good variety. _Check!_

Next, Finn checked the present. It was a beautiful emerald on a necklace. He had tried to give it to Flame Princess as a gift after they had broken up, but she rejected it. "Give it to your next girl" She had told him. He hoped Chlorella would like it. _Check!_

Lastly, Finn checked the poem. It was one of his best pieces yet, according to himself.

To Chlorella

I hope you like this

The day we first met

I was a little bit scared

Your beautiful glow

The way you stared

As we grew closer and closer

I kept my feelings wrapped up tight

But now I truly know  
Being with you is right

I hope you understand

How I'm getting all these feels

I think it's pretty funny

How you had me in a reel

I admired your uniqueness

Your different style and look

Don't get the wrong message;

It's the best look in my book

I don't just love you

For your looks and style

I hope you'll be with me

For a long, long while

Yes, yes, it was sappy. It was cheesy. It was perfect. It described how he felt. _Check!_

It was time to begin the list with steps one and two. Finn was already wearing his cleanest shirt and shorts, and he was wearing a nice cologne called _The Feel Good Stuff_. Now he smelled fresh as a daisy. Literally, because he knew that Chlorella loved the smell of flowers. Yes, it was a bit feminine, but who cares? It's Chlorella's favorite smell.

Finn took a deep breath. Just a date. A simple date. A cute date. He could do this! He'd faced the Lich! He'd...he'd crashed Princess Bubblegum's castle in. Yippee. She probably hates him now.

Finn groaned and rubbed his forehead. No time to groan about that, It was time to go and see Chlorella.

He knew he was ready. But just before he stepped outside, he hesitated. If she said yes, Finn would be a happy camper. If she said no...well, that was worth the risk.

Finn smiled to himself and walked out the door.


	6. Chapter 6: It Doesn't Work Out

Chapter Six:

It Doesn't Work Out

When Finn reached the ring of rocks, he was only a little bit nervous. He wasn't that afraid of Chlorella saying no, because he knew that he wouldn't be depressed afterward, and they would still be friends, but not in the solitary manner that he and Flame Princess were friends.

Chlorella was on her stomach in the green grass. Her hair was braided and neat. She was wearing the dress of leaves she had worn when she'd first met Finn, and of course she was barefoot.

Chlorella didn't seem to be doing much. She was just staring intently at a patch of clover that had grown from her tears. Finn considered this to be a slightly strange behavior, but he didn't think much of it. She was probably trying to grow something.

He realized that he would have to get Chlorella's attention on his own. Placing the basket that contained their lunch, Chlorella's present, and the poem behind a large boulder, Finn cleared his throat to get her to look up.

Chlorella studied the clover a little longer, but then looked up. When she saw Finn, she smiled and rose to her feet, leaving the clover with nothing grown out of it.

"Hey, Finn! What's up?" Chlorella said this pretty casually, considering that just yesterday a castle had collapsed because of her and her friends and she had almost died.

"Nothing much, you?" Finn resisted the urge to scuff the grass with his feet.

"Honestly, I was thinking about yesterday. Thanks again for helping me. I never would have survived if you hadn't caught me." A chill ran down Finn's spine as he imagined himself next to the rubble of the castle, Chlorella nowhere to be seen. "Has that pink Princess given you any trouble?"

"No, she hasn't. Thank glob." Finn told her.

"Yeah. I was worried..." Chlorella's voice trailed off. She seemed more distracted than usual today.

"So, um, Chlorella..." Finn took on a new, stronger tone, which caught Chlor's attention again. "I was wondering-"

"Yeah...?"

"If you wanted..."

"Yeah...?

"To..."

"Yeah...?"

Finn gave Chlorella a mildly annoyed look, as a joke. She laughed a little bit and said, "Go on."

"OK, um...did you want to go with me...on a little picnic?" Finn held his breath, waiting for her reply. Hopefully she got the message that this was a date.

Chlorella eyes lit up, but then clouded a little bit. Her eyes got a suspicious look in them, which alarmed Finn a little bit. What had he done wrong?

Chlorella seemed to be considering something in her mind for a second, but then that cloudy look died away, and she beamed a brilliant smile.

"I'd love to, Finn!" Chlorella said. She began to walk towards the edge of the ring. Just as she was about to leave, she said, "Oh, Finn, the wind spirits want me to deliver a message for them. I know, it's kind of jacked, but whatever." Chlorella shrugged. "The wind spirits want to thank you for saving me, but they also want you to take extra good care of me when I'm with you." Chlorella almost said this in a commanding tone, like the one she used when she first met Finn, but she didn't. Chlorella slid out of the ring, gave Finn a slightly nervous smile, and began to walk towards a hill that sat a little ways away from them, where they would picnic.

This was going good. This was going great. Chlorella had said yes. But Finn still had a feeling inside that told him something wasn't right. Chlorella's been distracted, her reaction to the date wasn't quite right, maybe Finn had caught her on a bad day? He considered calling off the date, but he decided against it. Chlorella would have said no if today wasn't the right day.

The pair walked towards the hill in an awkward silence. Finn tried to think of things to talk about, but he finally settled on trying to hold Chlorella's hand.

Even this, Finn was a little worried about. He took a breath and reached for her dangling, green hand, but just as he was about to hold it, Chlorella started to swing her arms back and forth.

_Whatever_, Finn thought to himself. _She didn't do that on purpose. She didn't even know I was going to hold her hand._

When Finn and Chlorella neared the hill, Finn said politely to Chlorella, "Hang on, let me set it up" And ran ahead, where he placed down a red blanket from inside the basket, smoothed it out, and set out plates and glasses and the food and drinks. As Chlorella watched, the laughed. She could see how much this mattered to Finn, and he was going to make every detail perfect.

When Chlorella reached the top of the hill, the two of them sat down to eat their lunch. Chlorella grabbed a glass plate and served herself a sandwich and some trail mix. Finn decided to go with a plate of spaghetti. He then gave them each a fancy glass, and then filled them both with Apple Cider. While he did all this, Chlorella looked a little nervous and worried, so while they ate and drank, Finn tried to set Chlorella at ease.

"How d'you like the food?" Finn asked, and he took a forkful of spaghetti.

Chlorella finished her sip of Apple Cider and replied nervously, "It's delicious. I never knew you were such a good cook!" Finn and Chlorella then ate and drank some more.

_This is going great!_ Finn thought to himself. He was happy with all his preparations. The wind was blowing softly, so it wasn't too hot, and the cherry tree they were sitting under didn't let any leaves or petals fall into their food. That may have been some of Chlorella's magic, though, assuming that it worked outside her ring.

Finn decided it was time to bring out the present. He cleared his throat.

"Chlorella, I have something I want to give you." He said. She put down her glass.

"Finn, you didn't have to get me anything." Chlorella said this nervously.

"But I've still got something I want you to have." Finn persisted.

"A cold?" Chlorella joked.

"No..." Finn replied.

"A bug?" Chlorella joked again.

"Guess again..."

"You got me a..." Chlorella still sounded nervous as Finn revealed the trinket in his palm.

Chlorella gasped in delight. "Finn, you shouldn't have!" For a wonderful moment, her nervous look was gone. But once Finn had reached around and fastened the glittering Emerald Necklace around Chlorella's neck, Chlorella looked more nervous than ever, almost scared. Scared of what, though?

"That necklace looks awesome on you." Finn told her.

"Thank you, Finn. It's so..." Chlorella didn't finish the sentence, and Finn noticed how pale she looked.

"Chlor, are you OK? You look sick. Should I call Doctor Princess?" Finn offered and he placed a hand on Chlorella's forehead. She was hot and feverish.

"No, Finn, it's not a real cold, I just need to tell you something." Chlorella said, and she placed a hand on her head like she was getting a migraine.

"Take your time. I'm not rushing you." Finn said, but he really wanted to know what was wrong.

Chlorella took some deep breaths, but still didn't meet Finn's eyes. Her head was still in her hands when she began talking.

"You see, Finn, I knew all along this was a real date." Chlorella told him.

"That's what you're supposed to know. I'm not tricking you or anything, I swear!" Finn said, and he felt alarmed.

"Yes, that's the problem." Chlorella sighed, and Finn's heart started beating very quickly. "Finn, I'm about to tell you something really heavy. Please, save all questions to the end. My head and heart hurt." Chlorella's pained tone was enough to zip Finn's lips shut.

Chlorella took a deep breath. "Long ago, before I was born, my kind was plentiful we roamed the whole world, spreading nature. But then, the people who live in the underworld, the fire elementals, they waged war on us. Using their fire, my kind was massacred. During that time, when I was a little girl, my mother, father, and older brother were killed. It's still really hard for me to talk about. Anyways, after I managed to find a safe spot here, the surviving elders of my kind made me the ruler of my kind, even though it was just me and them. Even though they tried to hide, the elders were found by the elementals soon enough. Now, it's just me, ruling a subjectless kingdom." Chlorella sighed. "The elders said that some of my people may have escaped the elementals and scattered across the world. So, before they died, the elders made a law that my species may only love other members of my kind, so that if we find each other, we may repopulate our species." Chlorella raised her head, closed her eyes, and a single lime green tear slid down her silent, still face. "This is why I can't be with you, Finn. You can make all sorts of moves towards me, I just can't accept them. If we were to be together, and another member of my kind showed up, I would have to leave you. It would break your heart, and it would break mine." Chlorella stared into Finn's eyes. "You can ask questions now."

Finn didn't want to say anything. It seemed like the world had stopped, all around him, like he was frozen in time.

Chlorella and Finn sat in silence for what seemed like several days, but it wasn't. At last, Chlorella stood up. "I'm sorry, Finn. I truly, truly am. Thank you for the lunch and the necklace. And this may sound sappy and mean and totally cliché, but..." Chlorella rubbed her arm. "We can still be friends." With those last words and one final sad look, Finn heard Chlorella walk away, back to her ring.

(Hello, this is thepencilunleashed. I'd just like to say something to my readers; I apologize for the lack of uploads early in this story, I was new to and I had no idea how to post a new chapter :P Durr! Thanks to the help of the author writingsterner, I am now updating the story regularly. I also apologize for all the mushy stuff in this story, I promise you it'll get really action-y, adventure-y, and all that good stuff will happen soon!

-thepencilunleashed

P.S: Did you see that one episode, "Breezy"? OMG... what the heck did LSP DO?)


	7. Chapter 7: A Friend's Help

Chapter Seven:

A Friend's Help

Finn needed to see Flame Princess.

Yes, it might have been crazy if Finn hadn't moved on, but he had, so visiting Flame Princess was like visiting PB...before he crushed her castle. Anyways, he needed to see her. She was a girl, and girls knew about girls.

_It might be a little awkward_ _talking to her about dating,_ Finn thought. _But I'm over her mostly, so it would only be awkward for her, and the chance of that is pretty slim._

After poking around in the meadow far away from Chlorella's ring (Finn didn't even bother to look at the ring to see if she was there) Finn managed to find Flambo dozing under a large stone. When he had received a flame-proof enchantment (and had Flambo poof him down to the underworld for the extra fee of a handful of trail mix) he stood on the road that led to Flame Princess's ginormous castle.

The familiar underworld comforted Finn. He felt like he was home, even though he'd only been there once before when Cinnamon Bun had stolen Flame Princess from him.

Finn absorbed the heat of the atmosphere, which only felt mildly warm due to the spell, even though there were open oceans of lava nearby. The world was silent except for the sound of heavy wind that Finn couldn't feel, the occasional clink and clatter of something metal, and the sound of Finn's shoes crunching against the gravel road.

The big red doors that led to the throne room were guarded by two tall Flame Men with pointy spears.

"Why are you here?" The one on the right asked.

Remembering the Flame Kingdom's code of honesty, Finn replied, "I'm here to see Flame Princess because I need some advice from her."

"Very well." The same man replied, and he and his friend opened the large door with a lingering _creeeeeaaaaaakkkk_.

The throne room looked exactly the same from Finn's last visit. The lantern hung from the ceiling, but it held Flame Princess's father instead of Flame Princess herself. The throne was now empty, but a blue Cinnamon Bun (he had the flame-proof spell on him permanently) wielding a spear stood next to the throne, guarding it. The numerous Flame People around started whispering once they saw Finn, but they didn't come any closer to him. Finn ignored them.

Once Cinnamon Bun caught sight of Finn, he yelled, "Your majesty, someone is here to see you!" The noise echoed through the castle and a minute later, a set of doors near the throne opened.

Flame Princess, now the Flame Queen, emerged from the doors. She wore the exact same outfit that she had worn the day she had become Flame Queen, and her eye sockets were still full of red, glowing lava.

Seeing her again felt great to Finn. She was a familiar sight, like seeing home after a long journey in a dark forest. Seeing the way her hair flickered, Finn remembered how she used to be the light in his life, but he pushed this thought out of his mind. He needed advice now.

Flame Princess rubbed her forehead, looking pained about something. When she looked up to see Cinnamon Bun, she looked angry, but Finn could tell she was curious about her visitor; he still knew her in a sort-of friendly way.

"Cinnamon Bun, who's here?" Flame Princess scanned the room, and once she laid her lava eyes on Finn, she stared. Her hand that held the door open behind her went slack, and the door shut, filling the quiet room with a loud _bang_.

The room became filled with an awkward feeling, and everyone began to fidget around the room, everyone except Cinnamon Bun, Flame Princess, and Finn, who was patiently waiting for Flame Princess to say something.

Flame Princess blinked, like she couldn't believe her eyes. Regaining her royal manner, she folded her hands in front of her, cleared her throat, and said, "Welcome, Finn. It's nice to see you."

"Nice to see you too, your majesty." Finn added the last two words, remembering that she was a queen now.

Flame Princess looked a little surprised, like she had almost forgotten that she was queen herself.

"Oh, Finn, you don't have to call me that."

"OK, then."

Flame Princess looked at her feet.

"Look, FP, I need some advice." Finn said, and he put his hands in his pockets.

"What about? I can't help with much, and I don't have much time." FP sounded persistent.

"You see, I've been having some trouble in the ladies department..." Finn said. FP's expression looked exactly the same, like she was listening intently, but she blushed a little bit.

"Basically, I tried to get to tier one, but we have problems."

"What kind of problems? I can't help unless I have the full picture." FP added the last sentence quickly.

Finn looked at FP's face, which was blushing for some reason. Shrugging to himself, he continued, but just before he did, he remembered Chlorella's tale about the fire elementals. Hopefully

"Basically, the elders of her forbid her species to go up the tiers with anyone but their own species. I'm stuck. I really like her, but...you know...got any ideas?" Finn almost laughed a little when he saw FP's expression; she seemed intrigued, disturbed, confused, and surprised at the same time.

Flame Princess stared at him for a minute or two, with an open mouthed expression that totally said, "_What the heck did you just tell me_?" Thankfully, the managed to compose herself.

"Well, Finn, that's' pretty heavy. I've never heard of such a thing." Luckily, she didn't seem to put two and two together. "If you follow me, I have an idea, but it's pretty bonkers. Interested?"

"I'll try anything." Finn said, and he walked towards Flame Princess, who was slowly opening the heavy door she had just emerged from. The subjects began gossiping behind their hands as Finn and FP entered the room.

At least, Finn thought it was a room. Instead it was a narrow hallway. Of course, it was red, like everything else in the underworld. There were many doors on each side of the long, quiet hallway, but Flame Princess simply opened the first door on the left of the hall and stepped inside right before Finn.

The room was a large library with a linoleum floor, so whenever Finn or Flame Princess took a step, their footsteps echoed with clacking sounds. Long, tall shelves of books lined the right and left sides of the room, and in the front of the room there was a bright fireplace, burning eternally. Near the fireplace there was a set of armchairs and a coffee table adorned with an empty mug, faintly stained with coffee.

Without a word, Flame Princess walked towards a large ladder that stood propped against a bookshelf on the left side of the room. Climbing it to the very top of the shelf, she scanned the row of books. Finn stood there in an awkward silence for a few seconds until FP said, "Feel free to browse around. The right book is up here somewhere."

Finn had no idea how books could fix a romance problem. He expected FP to sit him down and explain all about how to get a girl to tier one and beyond. Wow, he never realized how pathetic that sounded...he had trouble just getting Chlorella to tier one.

Finn walked to a bookshelf on the right side of the room and pretended to browse through books, when he was really just breezing through the titles. _Low: A Tale of Trees...Eyeballs are Nighballs...Cupz of Sztuff...A History of Firewood..._

"Found it! Globbit, why was it all the way over here?" FP talked to herself as she stepped down the ladder, holding a thick book in her hand.

She walked towards Finn, flipping through the pages. "Like I said, this idea is bonkers, so don't call me crazy when you read about it." Flame Princess inserted her finger into the page and pointed to the beginning of a chapter. "Read this." FP said, handing Finn the thick book, which was entitled _Oldie Holdie's Enchantments and Rituals._

Finn began to read.

Chapter 309:

The Conversion Ritual

Once on my journeys to Alabababania, I met a beautiful sorceress by the name of Jiaretch LaHould. She revealed to me a very secret Conversion Ritual, but only with a highly valued object in return, so I gave her an Eternal Beautification Elixir, and she revealed to me this process.

The Conversion Ritual can be used to change one being into another, as long as at least on member of the species they wish to be turned into exists. In order to do this, the person must travel to the forbidden lands of the underworld-oh, whatever. I'm just going to make a simple little checklist.

Step One: Travel to the Few Interdie Lands in the Underworld. (These lands are found North, or behind the palace where the Flame royalty live.)

Step Two: Travel Northeast until you reach a fountain spewing black liquid. Climb into it and grab whatever appears in the center of it. _MENTAL_

Step Three: Travel to the west until you see a sleeping giant. Get one of the moonstones around his neck. _PHYSICAL_

Step Four: If you survive these two perils, go Southwest until you reach your starting point. Someone will be waiting for you there. Survive his test and he will give you something you need.

Step Five: Take the three objects you received from the perils. Go to your homeland and find a pool of water or lava. Throw the three objects into the pool one by one and recite this chant,

"Oh spirits of everything, anything, everyone, and anyone, we give you these gifts in exchange for one incident in which the law of nature itself is bent. We beg, we plea, we cry, we wish for you to change (name of person being changed) to a (species you wish to be changed to). Please accept this offering. (Take a single drop of blood from the person being changed and throw it in the pool. The process will begin, but it will be painful for the changer emotionally and physically. They will see their worst fears, and feel extravagant pain, any anyone accompanying them will feel this as well. To stop the process, simply place another drop of the changer's blood in the pool.)

Finn stared at the text, then slowly handed the book back to FP, who took it hesitantly. "So you're saying..." Finn was uncertain whether FP was serious or not. "...That I should change Chlorella's species?"

"Actually, yes." FP began to climb the bookshelving ladder to put the book back. "If she were human, she wouldn't have to go by the rules of her kind. She would be free. Of course, anyone could die during the journey, the special artifacts could be lost, or she could simply not want to change." FP slid the book back into an empty spot and climbed down the ladder. "That's all I have. Laws are laws." FP folded her hand in front of him. "I must be going now. I have a _date _with Cinnamon Bun now. You may leave." FP said the word date with emphasis, as if to rub it in Finn's face. She left the library, and after a second of considering, Finn left for home.

(Hello, everyone! This is thepencilunleashed. It seems that the ending of the story is not too far away. I'd say that we're at the beginning of the end. At the last chapter, I'll be doing an exclusive segment about how I made this story, why I made it, and all that stuff. You get it! I'll also answer any questions about anything in the story, and even about myself. You can basically ask me anything appropriate. Just private message me your question or post it in the reviews if you're OK with everybody reading it. Bye for now!

-thepencilunleashed)


	8. Chapter 8: More than Anything

Chapter Eight:

More than Anything

Right after Finn left the underworld, he visited Chlorella. Who else would he visit? She was the one who would be changed. If she said yes, that is.

Finn had all the details. He'd climbed up the ladder and ripped the particular page on the Conversion Ritual out of the book. Sorry, Flame Princess! Er, Flame Queen.

"CHLOR! CHLOR!" Finn yelled like a madman as he neared the ring, which alarmed a napping Chlorella so much that she screamed when Finn entered the ring.

"It's OK, Chlor, it's me!" Finn calmed her down hurriedly.

"Good glob, Finn, don't go that again! You scared the fudge puddles out of me! Almost." Chlorella smiled faintly.

"OK, listen, Chlor, how badly do you want us to be together?" Finn asked. His heart was racing.

Chlorella's eyes almost teared up. "More than anything in the world." She said sincerely.

"Well, my friend found this in her library." Finn gave the ripped page to Chlorella. She read it slowly, savoring each detail, and when she looked up at Finn she had a questionable look on her face.

"How can this help our problem?" She asked.

"Well, if we converted you to a human, you wouldn't have to live by the rules of your kind. You'd be free! We could be together." Finn explained.

Chlorella gave him an astonished look. "That is pure genius. A stoke of genius. Or is it a stroke of genius?"

"I don't know."

"Some genius." Chlorella teased.

"OK, Chlor, you might want to think this over for awhile, so I can give you some time-"

"Oh, no, Finn. I'm definitely doing it. When can we leave?"

Finn blinked, taken aback. "Are you sure? The quest could be dangerous, there are creeps all over the place..."

Chlorella gave Finn a serious look and rose to her feet, face to face with Finn.

"Finn, I swear, sometimes you can be the stupidest yet cutest guy in the world." Chlorella gave him a smile. Then, surprisingly, she pulled Finn in for a hug. With her head lying on his shoulder, she wrapped her arms around him and said, "I'll do whatever it takes, you dingus. Whatever it takes." Chlorella stepped out of the hug and grabbed Finn by the shoulders, shaking him violently. "Whatever it takes!" She said crazily.

When Chlorella stopped the shaking, Finn was grinning.

"What is it?" Chlorella asked.

"Tier one." Finn said.

"What?"

"Oh, nothing."

Chlorella shrugged.

"What about your laws?" Finn asked.

"Well, it didn't say anything about hugging and stuff, it just said we couldn't be together. So since it's not official, we're fine. Just no smooching or anything." Chlorella laughed lightly and pushed Finn away by the shoulders, gently.

"Well, I guess we can leave around tomorrow. Be sure to pack your stuff. You'll need food, water, a change of clothes, blankets-" Finn counted off the items.

"I get it." Chlorella said.

"OK, see you tomorrow." Finn waved and left the ring.

Early in the morning, Finn gulped down breakfast with Jake, who would be coming along on the quest. They packed blankets, water bottles, food, and extra changes of clothes in Finn's backpack.

When the pair went to pick up Chlorella, the sun was barely coming up. A thick mist coated the air, and it was nippy outside. Finn and Jake hadn't packed sweaters, of course. They wouldn't need them in the underworld.

As Finn and Jake walked, they didn't talk much. They mostly double-checked their supplies and wondered if Chlor was ready yet. Surprisingly, when they got there, she was. She was sitting on a rock, wearing a coat made of grass and pants made of leaves. She was wearing shoes for once, and they were boots made of the petals of a daisy. Her hair was tied into a bun with two strands of hair framing her face, and she was wearing a green backpack.

"You ready to go, Chlor?" Finn asked.

"Yeah, I'm ready for this!" Chlorella seemed surprisingly excited.

"You got changes of clothes?"

"Yeah."

"Water and food?"

"Yeah, Finn."

"Hairbrush?"

"Finn! I'm not as delicate as you think. I've got everything." Chlorella insisted.

Jake suddenly decided to join the conversation. "Well, everything except a weapon, of course."

"Oh yeah! Thanks, Jake." Chlorella slid off her backpack. "I know a little spell that summons one, gimme a sec here." Chlorella sunk to her knees in the grass, and said some weird words.

"Chers esprits de la terre et des plantes, s'il vous plaît épargner une arme pour moi. Je jure qu'il ne doit être utilisé pour nuire à ceux qui me nuire, et ne pas nuire à l'innocent. Je donne ma bénédiction." No sooner had Chlorella said these words that the dirt began to move. It shuddered a little bit, and suddenly something sharp and pointy flew out of the ground and into Chlorella's hand.

The weapon was a medieval arming sword. (Please Google it if my description doesn't explain it properly.) The weapon was shaped like a long, sharp dagger with a pointy end. The metal itself was pure white with a streak of gold running up the center of both sides. The hilt was painted white, and the handle, which was completed with a leather handle-grip, was spiraled. At the bottom of the handle, a single moonstone the size of a pearl was attached, and it was pure milky white.

Chlorella slashed her sword in the air a few times, gave it a jab.

"It's perfectly balanced!" Chlorella exclaimed. She sounded extremely grateful. Jake whistled. The blade was beautiful.

"It looks awesome." Finn said.

"I'm going to name it Aceline." Chlorella said. Just as she named it, a sheath for Aceline appeared on Chlorella's back, strapped to her body. It was dyed white and the letters A and C were stitched into it with golden thread.

"Ok, enough ooing and aahing at my sword." Chlorella put Aceline in a sheath. "Let's go turn me into a human!"

This is all my writing for tonight. See you! -thepencilunleashed


	9. Chapter 9: Blood for Love

Chapter Nine:

Blood for Love

Before the trio entered the underworld, they had to search for Flambo under rocks and trees. After a few minutes of searching and poking under rocks that sometimes hosted maggots, Jake called everyone over. Under a large rock, Flambo was napping, his hands behind his head.

"Flambo...Flambo!" Finn tried to wake him, and after a few calls of his name, his eyes opened.

"Oh wassup Finn? Jake? Random green lady?" Flambo asked in his casual tone.

"Ohmygosh!" Chlorella swiftly backed away from Flambo, a terrified look on her face.

"Chlor, are you-" Seeing the terrified look on her face, Finn remembered Chlorella's story about the fire elementals.

"What's wrong with Chlor?" Jake asked.

"She has...a bad experience with fire." Finn told Jake.

"Well, if she has a bad experience with fire, why is she..." Jake's voice trailed off once he saw how afraid Chlor looked.

"Don't worry, Chlor. Flambo's a good guy. He doesn't do that stuff." Finn tried to calm Chlorella down, hoping that she would be able to get close enough to him to receive the charm.

"Why does he got a problem with me?" Flambo asked. He sounded a little offended.

"It's nothing personal, Flambo." Finn reassured him.

Chlorella began to stand. Her face was pale, but she was taking steps towards Flambo, and not running.

"OK, she's good now. So, Flambo," Finn got back to the original topic. "You know that fire-proof charm that you can cast?"

"Yeah, why, do you need it?" Flambo asked.

"Yeah, but do you have it in the form of a potion?" Finn asked.

"Yeah, I do. In fact, I got some with me right now." Flambo said. He pulled a large vial of something crystal out from behind him. "But in potion form, it's gonna cost ya extra." Flambo sat back under the shade of his uplifted rock.

"How much extra?" Jake asked, who was still holding up Flambo's rock. "We've got gold back at the tree house."

"No, I don't want gold." Flambo nodded in Chlorella's direction. "Y'see, this gal's a Nature Nymph. Got that Chlorophyll running through her veins. I need a vial of it."

"What?" Finn asked. "Why do you want her _blood_?"

"I do alchemy as a side job, you know what." Flambo explained, still laying his head on his hands. "Chlorophyll is a highly prized ingredient in potions. Just a drop of it in your average potion and _poof_! It's a high quality drink." Flambo gave Chlorella a devilish smile. "So, you gonna pay up, lady?"

"Forget it." Jake said angrily. He prepared to drop Flambo's stone.

"W-wait." Chlorella stepped forward. She was still pretty pale. "I'll give him the vial."

"Chlor, you don't have to do that." Finn said. "We can..."

"Find another alchemist? Quit the quest? Finn, I _cannot_ quit. I need to be a human. I need to be with _you_!" Chlorella crossed her arms and stamped her foot. "I'm doing it and that's that."

Finn sighed. Chlorella was stubborn sometimes, it was true, but she made up for it with her charm, wit, and good jokes.

"Ok." Finn said. "We can heal you right after."

Flambo gave a devilish smile. "Alright." He grabbed a small, empty bottle from behind him, stood up, and walked to Chlorella's feet. She kneeled down, and looked at Flambo, who held the jar out, ready to collect the Chlorophyll. Jake dropped Flambo's rock.

"Finn." Chlorella said. "Grab Aceline out of the sheath for me, please."

Finn was sweating a little bit. He was worried that Chlorella would bleed too much, that something would go wrong. But he still removed Chlorella's backpack and

took her beautiful sword out of its hilt.

Silently, Finn handed Aceline to Chlorella, and their fingers met as Chlorella took the blade. She held the sword over a spot on her arm, below the wrist.

"Don't cut it up near the wrist." Jake warned her. "If you do, the bleeding will never stop. You could...get hurt...and stuff." Muttering to himself, Jake stretched his face far away from the scene, muttering to himself, "I can't see this. It's...nasty."

Finn wished he could go with Jake, but he needed to be with Chlor. She definitely wouldn't be comfortable with a little fire demon collecting her blood. It was downright creepy.

Chlorella exhaled. She raised Aceline, muttered something, and made a quick swipe, just below the wrist.

Chlorella made no sound, she just bit her lip. The wound began to ooze Chlorophyll, and Flambo held the vial to the cut, and the green liquid dripped slowly into the vial, filling it drop by drop.

Finn kneeled down beside Chlor. She was pale, watching the wound drip Chlorophyll into the little demon's vial.

"Does it hurt?" Finn said quietly to Chlor.

Chlor didn't say anything. Training her eyes on the wound, she just kept biting her lip and nodded.

The vial was now halfway full.

"The earth wants to heal it." Chlorella whispered. "The plants want to grow up and make a little bandage for it. It's so sad. I wish I could let them." Chlorella sighed. The vial was now three fourths of the way full. "Is this over yet? Glob globbit, he should have enough now."

At last, Flambo took the vial away from the wound. The minute it left Chlorella's skin, Chlor placed her arm in the grass. There was the farmiliar deep glow within the earth, and the cut was healed instantly.

"Pleasure doing bussiness with ya." Flambo said. He put a little cork in the bottle that held Chlorella's blood, and the Chlorophyll swished tauntingly. "Here's your potion." Flambo grabbed the vial of blue liquid and tossed it to Finn, who caught it with fumbling fingers. "Just split it three ways, and it'll last until you leave. Find me, and I'll undo the spell. See ya!" Flambo pocketed the vial of Chlorella's blood and walked away, and at that instant Jake stretched to meet Finn and Chlorella.

"Did he get it?" Jake asked.

Chlorella nodded.

"I mean, Flambo's usually a nice dude, but that was just creepy!" Jake exclaimed, sounding disgusted.

Chlorella nodded. The color began to return to her face.

"So...guys, are we ready to...go?" Chlorella asked in a frail voice.

"Yeah, I'm almost ready." Finn said. "I just want to do something first." The idea had just burst into his head when he had seen Jake, Chlorella, and Flambo together.

Jake and Chlorella looked a little confused. "Why didn't you do it earlier, Finn?"

"Well." Finn said. "It's not exactly a casual tea-and-chat visit." Finn explained.

"What do you want to do, Finn?" Chlorella asked. She was no longer pale, but she still had a frail voice. The encounter with Flambo had really scared her. "Spit it out."

Finn sighed. He was probably going to sound crazy.

"I need to go and visit PB."


	10. Chapter 10: Magical Influence

Chapter Ten:

Magical Influence

When the trio reached the Candy Kingdom, PB's castle was good as new. The Candy Kingdom had the best builders in all of Ooo, and of course it didn't take a genius to stick a bunch of sugar wafers together.

Of course, as soon as Finn, Jake, and Chlorella reached the entrance to the candy kingdom, the banana guards surrounded them. Finn found himself in the eye of a storm of bananas, and all their spears were pointed towards Jake, Chlorella, and him.

"Why are you here?" One of the banana guards asked the trio in a nerdy voice.

"I have to talk to PB." Finn explained.

"Yeah," Jake joined in. "We, um, need to apologize for wrecking her castle."

"Yeah, we're super sorry." Chlorella added. She sounded sincere.

"Um..." The banana guards considered this. "Sure, I guess you can talk to her. But you'll have to drop your weapons."

Chlorella knelt and gently place Aceline on the ground. Finn put his blade of grass into sword form and dropped it, but he felt the powers of the blade wanting to reconnect with his wrist.

The banana guards maintained their circle around the trio as they walked through the gates of the Candy Kingdom and towards PB's castle. "She's having a speech right now." The same banana guard explained. "So you'll all have to wait for a minute before you can talk to her."

As they shuffled towards the doors of the castle, Jake stretched his head so he could whisper to Finn.

"Dude, I'm having second thoughts about your lady friend doing this quest if she has issues with fire." He whispered, barely audible.

Finn checked to see if Chlorella was near and listening. (Finn hated talking behind her back, but this was an issue that needed to be discussed.) Once he was reassured that Chlorella wasn't paying attention to them (she was looking at all the candy buildings) he continued the conversation.

"Jake, she's tough. I think she'll be fine." Finn replied.

"You _think_? Finn, this quest is all about her. She's going to see fire everywhere and feel its heat. If she collapses somewhere in the middle of the quest from trauma, we won't be able to help her." Jake said firmly.

Jake had a point. Suddenly, Finn felt a little afraid. Would Chlor be able to handle this quest?

There was a loud _creak_, and Finn snapped back to reality. Jake stretched back to his normal length, and Chlorella stopped looking at the candy buildings and ran up to be beside Finn.

The doors to the main hall of the castle were opening. They creaked open very slowly, and once they were fully open, the three saw something simple going on inside; a party.

The throne room had been elegantly decorated. Pink, white, and yellow streamers swooped from the ceilings. Tables with light pink tablecloth stood against the walls, topped with many different kinds of drinks and finger foods. The room was packed with candy citizens all in their best clothes, and on an elevated platform at the end of the room stood PB and Broco, chatting with Mr. Cupcake. PB wore a beautiful, strapless white dress that fell to the floor, with a pink ribbon around the middle. Her hair was in a bun at the back of her head, and Broco was in a simple light blue tuxedo. (He looked nice in it now that he had his normal appearance back.) Music blared out from the speakers set out at every corner of the room.

The candy citizens payed no attention to the loud creak of the door opening, or the sudden change in lighting. They just continued dancing, chatting, and snacking. Not even PB turned to see the new guests.

Finn was taking in the whole party, smelling the smells, seeing the bright colors, when someone pinched his shoulder.

"Ow!' Finn rubbed where he had been pinched, and he saw Chlorella giving him a look. "Good, now I've got your attention." She said, sounding satisfied with herself. She stood on her tiptoes and whispered into Finn's ear, "We need to sneak up to PB and talk to her. If we just walk up there normally, we'll draw attention to ourselves. We need to act like normal party goers." At this, Chlorella turned to the banana guards and said, "We can escort ourselves to the princess, don't worry." The guards seemed reluctant to leave, but after Chlorella gave them a dazzling smile, they seemed reassured and went back outside, patrolling the city.

Chlorella turned back to Finn. "I have a dress in my backpack. I'm going to go change, you try to make yourself look different. Sort of as a disguise. And explain all of this to Jake while I'm gone, please!" Chlorella lugged her backpack off her shoulder and sped off towards the nearest public restroom.

"What was that about?" Jake asked.

"We need to put on disguises to look like normal people at the party so we can sneak up to PB. I'm going to try and find something to wear in my backpack." As Finn searched, Jake simply molded himself to make it look like he was wearing a suit and a fancy hat.

_You've got it easy_, Finn thought as he dug through his backpack. He saw trail mix, candy wrappers, bolts and screws...at last, he found something he thought he had gotten rid of; his suit from the costume party when he dressed as Prince Hotbod. Not wanting to waste time, Finn simply pulled the suit over his clothes. He even found the fox mask crammed in the bottom, and he slid it on.

Right as Finn pulled up his dress pants, he saw Chlorella running towards them, her hand on her head so she wouldn't mess up her hair, and her backpack slung over one shoulder. She was wearing a simple yellow sundress with thin straps, and she had let her hair out of her bun, so it fell down her back. She had even slipped on a pair of sandals.

As she reached the two of them, Chlorella smoothed down her hair.

"Wow, you're wearing shoes." Jake joked.

Chlorella gave a light laugh. "Yeah, I don't normally wear them, because I like to feel the dirt under my feet, all soft and squishy. I packed some for the quest because I knew the ground was going to get hot, but I wore them here because I don't want to look rude, and I also don't really like the feel of sugar sticking to my feet." Chlorella dropped off her backpack near the door, (Finn did this as well) and looked towards the two guys. "So, the plain is we try to casually wander towards PB. Got it?"

"Got it." Both Finn and Jake said.

"OK, come on, Finn." Chlorella grabbed Finn's wrist and dragged him into the crowd of candy citizens. "Let's dance."

Chlorella didn't drag Finn far into the crowd before she stopped. All around him, Finn saw the heads of candy citizens, all sporting bright colors for the party. Energetic music blared from the speakers.

"C'mon, Finn, we need to act natural." Chlorella said. She placed her left hand on Finn's shoulder, and extended her right arm out. Finn, after he remembered how to dance from his visit to Pillow World, placed his right hand on the flat of Chlorella's back, and grabbed Chlorella's extended arm with his other free hand. They interlocked their fingers.

Finn was nervous, yes, it was true, but dancing with Chlorella was easy. He just sort-of shuffled around, and Chlorella didn't seem to mind it. Finn soon relaxed his arms and feet and just went with the flow. With Chlorella, he turned and swirled and shuffled, and began to slowly make his way towards where PB and Broco were chatting with various citizens.

"You're a good dancer." Chlorella said.

"Um..thanks." Finn said. He didn't even bother blushing.

"Do you dance a lot?" Chlorella asked. Finn raised her hand and spun her around once.

"Actually, no. I think it kind of comes naturally." Finn explained. "I'm just as confused as you are." He began to make his way to PB in a quicker fashion.

Finn felt like he was in that comfortable position with Chlorella, like he could ask her anything at this moment. So he went ahead and asked her a question.

"Chlor?"

"Yeah?"

"Do you think you can really, um, you know, go on this quest, if you still have a thing about fire?" Finn asked.

Chlorella was silent for a moment. She continued swaying and shuffling, and she focused her eyes around a point at Finn's neck.

"Well, Finn-"

Suddenly, Finn was out of the sea of candy citizens. He had reached PB and Broco! Right on cue, Jake burst out of the sea a few yards away from him.

Finn released Chlorella's hand. "PB!" He shouted!

Princess Bubblegum turned away from a candy citizen she was speaking to, and when she laid eyes on the trio, she made no facial expression.

"Finn, Jake, Green Lady." PB said in an emotionless voice.

"It's Chlorella." Chlorella told her.

"Oh, not you again!" Broco exclaimed.

"PB, we're here to apologize." Finn explained.

PB stared at them all with a blank face; Finn, who was now kneeling on the steps, Chlorella, who stared with a cautious face, and Jake, who was waiting to see how this would turn out.

"Finn," PB began. She still looked tired from the last time they had visited her. "You destroyed my castle. You questioned my love. You broke my trust." PB sighed and rubbed her face with her hand.

"I know, PB, but I didn't mean to do any of that!" Finn lied. He still thought Broco was fishy. He just wanted PB to be OK with him.

"I believe him." Chlorella spoke up. She stared PB in the face. "He's the most trustworthy person I know. He's caring, kind, considerate." Chlorella crossed her arms across her chest.

PB gave Chlorella a hard stare. "Name one time he's been a completely honest, kind, compassionate guy."

"Well," Chlorella said, continuing to stare at PB. "He's taking me to the underworld soon for a dangerous quest just so I can become human and be with him, if that meets your requirements." She folded her hands behind her back and raised her eyebrows.

Broco glared at Chlorella, and PB gave Chlorella look that showed surprise and anger.

"Finn's a great guy, you should know that, PB." Jake joined in. Finn stood from his kneeling position to see what was happening.

Chlorella's eyes scanned the room, and stopped when she was something near the corner of it; a sugar wafer door that Finn had never noticed before, painted the same color as the sugar wafer walls. Even the doorknob was disguised to be made of sugar wafers.

"Y'know," Chlorella began to slowly walk towards the end of the raised platform, her hands still behind her back. "I'm beginning to question this romance of yours myself." Chlorella waved her fingers, and a strange object appeared in her hands; a scepter made of gnarled wood, which held a large rock in the center instead of a stone.

PB stared on, but Broco's face drained of color. Jake and Finn were shocked.

"Chlor, what are you-" Finn asked.

"Stop that!' Broco tried to yell, but he was barely audible over the sounds of the party.

Then, Chlorella began to run. She raised the scepter high, neared the door...

_CRUNCH_! The scepter's stone broke through the sugar wafer door easily. Chunks of sugar wafer flew through the air, and Chlorella stood in the empty doorway, looking pleased with herself.

"NO!" Broco shouted. Jake and Finn sprinted towards the doorway, eager to see what was inside, just as Broco shouted, "BANANA GUARDS! SEIZE THEM!" Even the sleepy Princess Bubblegum meandered over to see what was inside.

What they all saw was shocking; the room was a dimly lit alchemist's brewery. A large cauldron stood in the center of the room, and jars and vials of ingredients stood around it. Shelves stood out from the wall, and all the potions in the room were the same; bright pink love potions.

"Aha! I knew it!" Finn yelled in triumph. Climbing into the room, he grabbed a tiny vial with blue liquid inside that read: _Antidote: For Emergencies._

The entire party was staring at Finn as he held the vial. Turning around, he saw that Chlorella had grabbed a cup of punch. Handing it to Finn, he poured the antidote inside while the banana guards seized Broco by the arms.

Finn held the cup of punch and walked over to PB in the now silent party. All of the citizens stared at Jake, Chlorella, and him.

"Finn, what's going on?" PB asked in a sleepy voice.

"It's nothing, PB, just drink this. All of it." He held up the cup, and PB seized it with her sticky hands. Raising it to her mouth, she drank it all in three gulps.

It was a stunned silence. PB licked the remaining juice from around her lips. Chlorella took a breath. Finn and Jake stared on.

PB's eyes widened. She dropped the cup and blinked once. At last, she turned to the guards who held Broco.

Broco shook in his restraints. His hair was messy and undone, and the sweat glistened on his face.

"Broco, why did you do it?" PB asked in the complete silence.

Broco shook some more. "I'm not an animal, princess. I'm not stupid. I can't love a robot."

"I understand, Broco." PB said. "But what you did was and is illegal."

Broco shook with exhaustion. "I can't do this, PB. I need you! I need your love! It's my duty in life!" He began to shake with racking sobs.

PB stared at Broco. Her eyes wide, and her mouth was slightly ajar. Sighing, she placed her hand over her face and sat down on the steps. "I don't know what to do with you, Broco. I really don't. You didn't take P-Bot. You want something you can't have..."

"Princess, may I suggest something?" One of the banana guards spoke up, and PB raised her head.

"Yes, banana guard. Any idea is a good idea."

"We could make him a potion, so that he doesn't love you anymore." The guard suggested.

Broco shook violently in his restraints. Chlorella took a step back and bumped shoulders with Finn.

"I like that idea, banana guard. I know he won't be happy with that, but it's the only way." PB said. She sounded a little sad. "Please cage him and send him to the wizards. Pack him plenty of food and water." The banana guards took action immediately, dragging Broco out.

In the silence, PB turned to the trio. "Thank you all. I understand that you have a quest to do now, so I shall let you be on your way."

Finn thought the thank-you was kind of lame, but he still nodded to PB, hopped onto Jake's expanding back with Chlorella, and stretched out the door, away from the silent party.

(Hey, guys! I'm still accepting your questions about anything in the series for the final chapter segment. Just private message me or post it in the reviews if you're ok with everyone reading it. Also, I am accepting fan art for the cover page of Beings in Need as a temporary solution until I can get around to making something myself. Thank you, and I hope you enjoyed this chaper. Chapter 11, we're heading to the underworld, where the quest begins!

-thepencilunleashed)


	11. Chapter 11: The Quest Begins

Chapter 11:

The Quest Begins

Finn thought that the trip to PB's castle was a success. He also enjoyed that he was able to do something by helping PB, and putting Braco in jail. He also enjoyed that moment when Chlorella used that scepter to smash the door down; it was entertainingly unlike her!

Now, even as Finn flipped over rocks that had maggots and spiders underneath, searching for Flambo, he could still smile to himself when he thought of Chlorella breaking down that door and exposing Braco.

It didn't take long before Chlorella shouted, "Guys, I found him!" Jake and Finn rushed over to see that she had indeed found Flambo, lounging under a larger rock than before.

"Hey Jake, Finn, Chlorophyll girl." Flambo said. He stood up and walked out from under the elevated stone, and Chlorella dropped it behind him. She didn't seem afraid of him.

"Hey, Flambo." Jake said.

"Yeah. Hey Flambo." Finn said. Chlorella simply nodded to him.

"We need to be teleported to the underworld." Jake said.

"Oh, yeah, I was supposedta do that after I got Chlorophyll Lady's chlorophyll, huh?" Flambo said this lazily, like he didn't care that he hadn't done everything.

"It's fine, Flambo." Chlorella spoke up. "Just, please teleport us after we each have a drink from the potion. She turned to Finn. "Do you still have the bottle in your backpack?"

"Uh, yeah, I'll get it." It was strange, seeing Chlorella so serious. Finn unzipped his backpack and found the large vial of blue liquid. Zipping his backpack up, he asked, "Who should get the first drink?"

"I think Chlor should get it." Jake said. "Because this is her first quest."

"Kay." Finn said. He handed the bottle to Chlor, and their fingers met as she took the bottle.

Chlorella's fingers tingled as she felt the spot where the liquid sat in the bottle. "It's nice and cool." She told them. She uncorked the bottle with a small _pop, _raised it to her lips, and tipped it down into her mouth.

The blue liquid flowed nicely into Chlorella's mouth. Finn could see her swallowing, blinking with every gulp, until she had drunk one third of it. Right as the passed the bottle to Finn, her eyes widened. She began to shake, like she was in a blizzard of freezing ice. Finn was about to reach down and see if she was OK, when Flambo's words stopped him.

"It's part of the effect. It means that the potion is working." He said, more to Finn than Chlorella. Then, Finn saw how she was changing. A blue coating began to climb up her body, starting at her feet. It changed her skin, her clothes, her hair, her eyes, until she looked like one big blueberry Popsicle.

Chlorella gave a huff of breath. It clouded in the air like she was in a cold morning, and this made her smile. Seeing this, Finn decided to drink it quickly, and he took his one third in a heartbeat.

About three minutes later you had three giant blueberry Popsicles where the trio once stood.

"OK, Flambo, we're ready." Jake said, and his dog breath clouded in the air too.

"Alright, guys, here we go. All three of you link arms or hold hands or somethin'" Flambo instructed them. Chlorella intertwined her fingers with Finn's, and Jake stretched out part of his side for Finn to hold.

"Alright, you may feel a slight discomfort, but I frankly don't care." Seeing the look on their faces, Flambo hurriedly added, "Just kidding, just kidding! OK, you'll be teleported to the entrance of the forbidden lands of the underworld."

As Flambo began his mystical chant, Chlorella held Finn's hand a little tighter. She was ready, he was ready, Jake was ready. All was well.

Finn didn't even realize he was being teleported. He only knew he was somewhere else when he felt a muggy heat, sensed it all around him.

Chlorella and Jake were looking around them, taking in their surroundings. Finn had a quick look around as well, but there wasn't much to see. A ginormous expanse of red ground stretched farther than Finn could see, and that was pretty much it. Little patches of fire burned here and there, but they didn't spread. A sign stood almost directly before them, and it read, "_You are in The Forbidden Lands."_

It was an ominous silence. All Finn could hear was the strange whoosh of wind high above his head, and the crackling of the scattered patches of fire.

"Well, this is a nice place." Jake said sarcastically. The wind whooshed from above.

"Well, this place isn't here for its looks." Finn said. He readjusted his backpack on his shoulder. Chlorella nodded. She was doing pretty good, considering that she hated fire. Freeing her hair from its bun, she said, "So, we're in the Few Interdie lands now...we travel Northwest from here?" Chlorella guessed.

"No, it's Northeast. I remember from the book." Finn corrected her. "We have to go that way until we find a fountain with black liquid spewing from it, and we have to take what we see in the middle.

"OK. Northeast, then." Jake said. "I can stretch-walk there. Get on my back." Jake instructed them. He grew very tall, with elongated limbs, and created a little staircase that stretched from his side. Finn and Chlorella walked up the soft, squishy staircase, and they soon found themselves on Jake's expanded back.

There was some silence for awhile, only interrupted by Jake's giant footsteps. Nothing appeared on the horizon, and the land seemed to stretch forever.

"So, Chlor, how're you handling all the fire?" Finn asked.

"Oh, I don't mind at all." Chlorella said. "This flame-proof spell really works, so I feel safe."

"Well, just keep in mind that it won't be completely safe the whole time. It'll probably be dangerous as glob." Finn told her.

"I know that, Finn. That's why I've got Aceline." Chlorella patted the beautiful sheath.

"Aceline might not be enough to keep you alive if you don't have the sword experience." Finn told her, stretching the importance.

"Yeah, I do need a little more help wielding her." Chlorella gave in.

"As soon as we make camp, I can teach you." Finn offered.

"That'd be great, Finn!" Chlorella said enthusiastically. "You'll be a great sparring partner."

"Don't worry, I'll go easy on you."

Chlorella narrowed her eyes. "What do you mean by that?"

"Well, I can't go full-force on you, Chlor."

"What are you saying?" Chlorella crossed her arms over her chest, but a smile played around her lips.

Finn realized his mistake. "Well-"

"You think I'm too _weak _to spar with you?" Chlor smiled, but didn't uncross her arms.

"No, I mean, yes, but-" The blush began to creep up Finn's cheeks.

"Then it's settled. You and me. A duel." Chlorella challenged him.

"Um, I, I guess-"

"Good! Be ready to fight, dingus." Chlorella laughed and shoved him playfully in the shoulder.


	12. Chapter 12: Sparring and Secrets

Chapter 12:

Sparring and Secrets

As soon as Jake said he was tired and the three made camp, Chlorella started giving Finn intimidating looks. It was actually kind of scary, coming from someone who was previously sweet as sugar. Plus, Finn saw what she did to that door. Chlorella was definitely competitive.

Just as soon as the three tents that had been packed were set up in a triangle formation, Chlorella swaggered over to Finn in a comical way.

"Alright, dingus." She had a mischievous smile on her face, and Aceline was held in her hand. "Let's go."

Finn examined his freshly set-up tent. It was perfect. Without taking his eyes off it, he said, "I'm having second thoughts."

"And why is that?" Chlorella asked with a pleased smile on her face.

Finn smiled to himself. "I'm positive that I'm going to dominate you, so I don't want to waste the time and energy."

"You dingus!" Chlorella said in a surprised tone, but she was smiling and laughing. Finn began to laugh as Chlorella grabbed his wrist and dragged him to the center of the triangle.

"Alright." She said. She stood across from Finn, and she held Aceline confidently with two hands. "Jake can be the ref. Hey, Jake!" Chlorella shouted. Jake, who had been taking a nap, woke up suddenly.

"Will you be the ref for our sparring match?" Chlorella asked.

Jake looked from Chlorella to Finn, then back again. "Oh, man, dude." Jake said in astonishment. "Tough luck." He began to laugh, and Finn's cheeks grew red, which only made Jake laugh harder. Chlorella didn't even crack a smile. She just stared Finn down with an evil, serious glare, and flashed Aceline around in the pale light to intimidate him.

"Alright, I'll do it." Jake said. "On three. One, three!"

Finn was caught off guard by Jake's faulty counting. Unfortunately, Chlorella wasn't, and she ran forward with Aceline, ready to press her sword onto his chest.

Finn brought out his Blade of Grass, and swiped Chlorella's sword over his shoulder by the hilt, hoping to disarm her but to his dismay she held on.

Their faces were now close. Finn stepped back and tried to take a prod at Chlorella's chest, but she blocked his blade and tried for a disarming maneuver, putting all her weight in a downwards thrust.

Finn dug his feet into the ground. Chlorella was stronger than she looked. Way stronger.

With a _clang_, the Blade of Grass fell to the ground. Finn looked down just in time to see it fall, and right as he picked it up, Chlorella pressed her sword point onto his chest, just enough for a prod.

"We have a winner!" Jake yelled. He ran into the center of the ring and held up Chlorella' arm. "VICTORY!" He yelled.

Chlorella was breathing heavily. She watched as Finn stood up, and reached out to him. "Good match." She said. Finn reluctantly shook her hand, which was slick with sweat.

Chlorella stared at Finn for a minute, pushed Aceline into her sheath, and retreated to her tent.

Finn stared at her now zipped-up tent. "Dude." Jake interrupted the silence. "You just got beat in a sparring match by your soon-to-be girlfriend."

"Yeah, I kind of noticed that already." Finn said. His sword wrapped around his wrist.

"She got lucky. And I know lucky sparring." Jake concluded.

"Next time, I'm going to win." Finn said, more to himself than to Jake.

"Yeah, man." Jake yawned. "Go get some rest, Finn." Jake plodded back to his tent, and Finn did the same.

The interior of his tent was nothing special. All it had inside was his sleeping bag. Sliding off his backpack and unzipping it, Finn rummaged through until he found his red pajamas. He removed his shirt and shorts, and slid on the warm flannel. The minute he slid into his bag, he knew it would be awhile before he fell asleep.

Luckily, Finn wasn't alone for awhile. He had his hands behind his head in his half-zipped bag, when he saw his sleeping bag unzipping.

Finn sat up abruptly, just as Chlorella poked her head in. Seeing that it was her, he felt a little awkward. She'd just beaten him at his best skill.

"Finn? You awake?" Chlorella asked.

"Yeah." He told her.

"Can I come in?" She asked.

"Sure." Finn said. He really didn't care if she came in or not.

Chlorella crept in quietly and zipped up the tent behind her. She bent down to accommodate the low ceiling, and sat down next to Finn.

"I can't sleep." She whispered.

"Me neither." Finn sighed.

"This will probably sound super mature, but-" Chlorella took a breath. "Tell me a story. A good one."

"What?"

"C'mon Finn. You've got some." She pushed his shoulder.

"Um...fine." Finn thought for a second. "Once, I went on this adventure with Jake..." He told her all about the time he and Jake had defeated the Grass Troll many about 2 years ago. Chlorella listened patiently, and seemed astonished at what he had to say.

"That's totally math!" Chlorella said with an air of astonishment. "Tell me another."

And so the night went on as Finn told Chlorella about his adventures with Billy's ex-girlfriend Canyon, his battle with The King Worm, his trip to Lumpy Space, he told her about pretty much every recent adventure.

"...so then, I made this little quotations with my fingers..." Finn made them to show her, but at that moment, her eyes shut and she fell to the floor, asleep.

"...Chlor?" He asked her sleeping form. He prodded her shoulder, but she showed no response. Finn's stories had put her to sleep.

"Um, so, what now?" Finn stared at her, and watched her chest rise and fall as she took breaths in her sleep. "You're on my sleeping bag, you know." Of course, there was no response.

Finn merely sighed and walked outside the tent. The outside world looked exactly the same as before, and there was no light from Jake's tent, indicating that he was asleep.

After examining the terrain, Finn walked over to Chlorella's tent and unzipped it.

Inside there was a lime green sleeping bag, woven of actual cloth, and it was covered by a yellow quilt. Chlorella's backpack was in the corner, and it was zipped shut. Pictures were strung to the side of the tent with safety pins, and a tiny flower bloomed in a vase in the left-hand corner behind Chlorella's sleeping bag.

Finn reached inside and grabbed the quilt. He was only here for the blanket, but he couldn't help taking a closer look at the tent. As he climbed inside, he felt Chlorella's nature magic infused in the air inside the tent, making the atmosphere inside cool, fresh, and natural. It was like being back in the ring of rocks.

Finn stared around the tent, and saw all the little details. The flower in the pot was a small sunflower. Chlorella's sleeping bag had a small cursive C embroidered in the bottom left-hand corner. The pictures on the side...well, Finn didn't see them yet.

But now he did. The pictures were pretty average for Chlorella. One was a black and white picture of a blossoming Daisy. Another black and white picture showed Chlorella growing a tree, with mist in the morning air. She looked like she was only 12.

The other pictures were a little more important. One of the only pictures in color showed a woman with the same skin and hair color as Chlorella. Her eyes were brown. She looked to be about 30 years old, and she was a little chubby. She was wearing a dress made of rose petals, no shoes, and her hair was sticking to her sweaty face. She was lying in a tattered bed in a strange room, and in her hands was a baby, wrapped in a white cloth. The baby had green eyes, and light green skin. It was baby Chlorella. Finn thought she looked cute as a baby. Smiling to himself, he moved on to the next picture.

The next picture was also in color, and it showed Chlorella, about 13 years old, smiling and running away from a boy who looked to be about 15 years old. He had shaggy hair that reached his neck, a well built-body, many freckles across his cheeks and nose line, and a devilishly charming smile. He was running towards Chlor, his arm outstretched, smiling as well. It was her older brother, and they were playing tag.

There were many other meaningless pictures on the wall, such as pictures of grass and blooming flowers, but there was only one other picture that featured Chlorella and another Nature Nymph, and this photo certainly intrigued Finn.

This picture was in color, and the photo took place on a hill right as the sun was setting. Chlorella's black outline was on top of the hill, and there was the outline of another person standing closely next to her. Finn couldn't make much of the other outline, just that is was a male's outline. He was a little bit taller than Chlorella.

Who was that person? Finn could've spent hours pondering, but the weight of Chlorella's blanket in his hand reminded him of his next action. He exited the tent, and as he did, he felt the weight of the underworld's muggy air. Creeping back into his tent, he saw that Chlor was still sleeping, but rolled over onto her other side. Finn smiled and gently tossed the blanket over her sleeping form. The only sleeping option now was to sleep in Chlroella's tent, since she had fallen asleep in his tent. She surely wouldn't mind.

Finn took another short walk through the muggy heat, and welcomed the coolness of Chlroella's small tent. But before he slipped into the bright sleeping bag, Finn examined the picture of Chlor and the unknown male yet again.

"Let's see." He said to himself. When he was alone and thinking hard, it helped to talk to himself. "She's standing close to him, so close that their shadows link. Maybe it's her brother and they've got their arms around each other's shoulders?" But there was no bulge around the shoulderlines. Chlorella didn't have another brother, just the one, so I couldn't be someone from her family. Her father would be much taller than her.

Apon even closer examination, Finn saw that the figures were turned and facing each other. Their shadows weren't linked, instead they were touching. Chlorella's head was tilted slightly upwards to reach the male's. The two were sharing in a kiss.

**Hey, guys. Beings in Need is back! Sorry for the lack of uploads. My computer had an issue.**


	13. Chapter 13: A Living Memory

Chapter 13:

A Living Memory

Finn waited until Chlorella had woken up to confront her about the mysterious photograph about her kissing a stranger. He knew he couldn't be too mean to her about it. After all, he had slept in her sleeping bag last night, and he still loved her. He was hoping that this was all a big misunderstanding.

He'd been waiting at the campfire with Jake for nearly an hour before Chlorella staggered out of Finn's tent in her nightgown, looking sleepy-eyed. She sat down at the campfire, yawning tremendously.

"Good morning, Finn and Jake." She said, stretching. She sniffed the air and noticed that Jake was cooking beans in a can over the fire. "Smells good."

"Thanks." Jake said harshly. He knew all about the little picture from Chlorella's tent (and also why he and Chlorella were sleeping in opposite tents), and he wasn't being the friendliest about it.

"What's wrong, Jake?" Chlor asked. "You don't' seem like yourself."

"Ask Finn what's wrong." Jake said with an air of cruelty. "You should know yourself."

Chlorella's beautiful face took on a confused and concerned expression, and she looked at Finn for answers.

Finn cleared his throat. "Chlor, I had to sleep in your tent last night-"

"Is that was this is about?" Chlorella asked with a strange look on her face. "I'm sorry, you should have woken-"

"No, it's not about that." Finn interrupted her in a harsh tone. He immediately regretted being mean a second later, when he saw Chlorella's confused and hurt face. "When I was in your tent, I saw this." Finn held up the picture of Chlorella kissing a mysterious stranger. Jake continued baking the beans.

Chlorella's eyes widened, and the lime green tears began to pool in her eyes. "Finn, it's not what it seems." She said, trying for a calm tone with her shaky voice.

"Then what is it?" Finn couldn't be the Bad Cop with Chlor, she was just too special to him, even in the midst of this situation. Jake took the baked beans away from the fire and set them down next to him to cool while he examined the interrogation.

Chlorella's lip quivered, and Finn felt bad for her, while Jake stared on with a glare.

"That's Nathaniel. He's..." Chlorella sniffed audibly, and the familiar lime green tears began to run down her face. Neither of the two boys pressed for an answer, although Finn's heart drummed quickly with anticipation.

"Nathaniel is my ex-boyfriend." Chlorella choked out these simple eight syllables, and even the effort to say something like this took the best of her. She began to full on sob, burying her face in her eyes. Finn instinctively reached out to put his arm around her shoulder, but Jake stretched his arm around to block Finn's and managed to give Finn a dead serious shake of the head, despite Finn's honest I-feel-bad-for-her face.

"Then why do you have a picture of him in your tent?" Jake asked, still with a drop of accusation and disbelief in his voice.

When Chlor had hicced and coughed enough to respond, she had something to say. "By the l-legends of the nature ny-ymphs, the fires of the F-Few Interdie can burn any b-bad memory and leave only the positive behind." Chlorella took a deep breath and began in a clearer voice. "Nathaniel was, like, the best boyfriend ever. Not as good as_ you_, Finn, even though we're not technically dating yet-well, you get it. Nathaniel had that shaggy brown hair that reached his shoulders, a kind voice, he used to be perfect for me." Chlorella wiped her eyes on her arms and continued. "When the elementals came, I lost my whole family, but we ran, Nathaniel and I. We hid out from them. We thought we would be safe, but..." Chlorella began to hiccup.

"It's OK, Chlor, you don't have to keep going." Finn said. He scooted closer to her on the red, rocky gravel, and put an arm around her shoulder, which she accepted. Well, she didn't shrug him off, at least. "I miss him like bonks, Finn. As a friend. I miss my friend." She hiccuped. Finn gave Jake a look, and Jake, seeing that this was a private minute, grabbed a handful of baked beans and ran to his tent to pack up.

"You didn't have to call for a moment, Finn." Chlorella said, just as Jake was gone. She stood up abruptly, ending the moment. "I'm gonna get dressed." She rushed off to her tent, leaving Finn on the ground in his red flannel pajamas, feeling awkward, silly, confused, and embarrassed.

About twenty minutes later, the camp was all packed up, and Jake was carrying Finn and Chlor yet again on his huge back, the latter giving Finn a cold shoulder.

Poor Finn was stuck. No girl had ever given him a cold shoulder. They'd always seemed to come right for him. Not that he liked that. It was really annoying at times.

Now he just stared at the back of Chlorella's head, her green hair trailing down her back. He sat in silence for about five minutes, and just as he was about to say something, Jake called the group to a halt.

"Hey, guys, look what I found." Jake called to them, stretching his face back so they could hear him clearly. In front of Jake sat a simple white marble fountain, gushing what seemed to be black water, although Finn couldn't see very many details from this distance.

As Jake stretched down and a silent Chlorella and Finn dismounted, Finn could see the fountain better, from a small ways away. It was a simple, round pool of black, tarry water, with a dome of the stuff sprouting from the middle. Finn supposed the artifact they were supposed to collect was in there somewhere.

"OK, guys, this is supposed to be dangerous." Finn told a silent Chlor and Jake.

"No kidding." Jake commented, eyeing the fountain.

"It's supposed to look like a different object to each of us, so, I volunteer to go in and get it." Finn said.

"I want to do it." A voice perked up. It was Chlor. "This is a quest for me, to change me. I should do it."

"You can't go alone, Chlor. You still don't have enough experience with Aceline." Finn insisted, although he hated reminding her of his defeat at the sparring match.

"I beat you in a sparring match, didn't I?" Chlorella insisted, not backing down. "I have plenty of experience."

"How about we both go?" Finn compromised, rubbing his forehead.

"Fine." Chlorella said, with a forced tone.

"Fine." Finn repeated.

"Guys, don't fight, it's...just, not going to work out if you guys are fighting!" Jake called, but the two didn't heed his warning. Instead, they just walked towards the nearby fountain, silent, with Jake waiting back with the supplies.

When they neared the fountain, Chlor turned to Finn. "I think we both know that...ugh! Gosh, Finn!" Chlorella did a face palm.

"What did I do?" Finn asked her with a defensive tone.

"Why'd you have to remind me of Nathaniel?" Chlorella demanded, her voice catching at the end of the sentence. "And it's not just that, it's every moment that I see you! You look just like him!" Chlorella stomped her feet, relinquishing her anger. "Why did I have to go through this? I mean, I like you, but you keep reminding me of Nathaniel. I lost him." Chlorella quieted down, and took a seat on the hot ground. Finn just stared down at her. "I miss my friend. And I can't stay mad at you." Chlorella quickly stood up again, so abruptly that she almost hit Finn under the chin with her head. She began pacing quickly, back and forth. Jake was watching her from a ways away with a confused expression.

"I think that everything happens for a reason, Chlor." Finn gently suggested, watching her continued pacing. "When fate led us to each other, I guess it was kind of a match. You had someone you loved recently die on you, I'd lost my girlfriend due to inconsideration." Finn revealed his past to Chlor, bit by bit, and she stopped to listen. "When I met you, you taught me to be considerate of the world around me, with your magic of nature. When I resembled Nathaniel, I was a constant living reminder of him, and seeing his likeness so much would help you get over him. I think." Finn concluded. Chlorella was staring at him with lime greens tears in her eyes once again. Wiping them away, she said nothing.

"That's..." Chlorella had no words for it.

"It fits, perfectly." Finn told her.

"It does." She agreed.

"Are you ready to tackle the fountain?" Finn asked.

"Yeah." Chlorella asked, looking strong and defiant.

And so, with that agreement, Finn and Chlorella jumped feetfirst into the fountain of black, tarry liquid.


	14. Chapter 14: The First Relic

Chapter 14:

The First Relic

The second that the tarry liquid was disrupted, a voice boomed out from the liquid itself. "WHO GOES THERE?"

"It's Finn the human and Chlorella the Nature Nymph, and we're gonna kick yo junk!" Finn yelled, his Blade of Grass at the ready. Chlorella managed a smile as she unsheathed Aceline.

"KICK MY JUNK?" The voice boomed. "NOBODY KICKS MY JUNK!" And with this last sentence the tarry liquid began to gather to create a sort-of body out of tar. It stretched, molded, and glopped together, and after it had finished, it had made a kind of swamp-monster out of watery tar. It was about nine feet tall, with crooked, tear-shaped eye holes, and a gloppy frown. The liquid constantly ran down the body of the creature, causing the stuff to drip off his arms and feet and fling everywhere when he made sudden movements, and leave tarry footprints to catch unsuspecting adventurers in.

"NOW I KICK YOUR JUNK!" The monster bellowed. Finn and Chlorella hurriedly stepped out of the now empty pool and onto the red gravel as the monster took slow steps towards them. Seeing trouble, Jake stretched up to them to help as well.

The monster flung back its fist and aimed for Finn, but he dodged, and the tarry hand stuck to the red gravel. As the monster tried to release its arm, Finn tried to climb up the monster's back and towards its head so he could decapitate it, but he found his foot stuck in the liquid.

"Guys, don't step in the tar stuff, it's sticky!" He called, trying to free his foot from the monster's back. Jake stretched a hand back and managed to pull Finn free, and Chlorella was dueling the monster on her own. As Finn and Jake ran forward to assist her, the monster made his move, but Chlorella jabbed Aceline into his eye hole.

"AUGH!" With a _shlock_ the monster stepped back, covering his eye hole. Finn didn't understand how that could hurt, but it did. While the monster was wounded, Finn tried to hack off his leg, but his sword became quickly stuck in the muck. Jake hurriedly pulled him out, and they both saw Chlorella, sneaking from behind the monster, holding something large in her hands. She had crept behind and taken the relic.

"WHO IS THE ONE WHO BLINDED ME?" The monster bellowed angrily, sending spits of tar from his mouth. Finn then had an idea that would give Chlor some time to get by.

Running to the right side of the monster, Finn yelled, "Hey, DINGUS!"

The monster, of course bellowed and slammed his fist into the ground where Finn was standing, but he ran out from under it, and the monster stuck his own hand into the ground.

"BAAAUGHH!" The monster gave a yell of anger as he tried to unsuccessfully free his arm, which was stuck tight with the force of his blow.

Jake, taking the hint, followed Finn's lead. He ran to the left side of the monster. "OVER HERE, TARFACE!" He taunted. "COME AND GET ME!" The monster slammed his other fist into the ground where Jake was standing with an angry shout, and his other fist became stuck.

"WHAT IS THIS?" The monster shook as hard as he could, flinging tar everywhere, and Finn and Jake stood back. "WHAT HAS HAPPENED TO MY MANLY FISTS?"

"You're stuck, dingus!" Finn taunted.

"Yeah! You got outsmarted by a bunch of teenagers and a dog!" Jake added.

"YOU ARE BULLIES!" The monster cried like a little kid. "COME AND FIGHT ME ONCE MORE!" But his taunts were unsuccessful. Finn and Jake high fived each other and ran back towards where Chlorella stood with the supplies and the relic.

"Nice job, Chlor!" Finn praised her.

"You guys did awesome, too." She insisted, cradling the relic.

"Let's get out of here before old tarface frees himself." Jake insisted. Chlorella and Jake once again hopped onto Jake's growing back, where they insisted to see the relic.

"Well, don't we see the relic as different items for each of us?" Jake asked.

"Yeah, we do. What do you see, Chlor?" Finn asked.

While still cradling and hiding the relic, Chlorella replied, "I see...my mother's tiara. It's beautiful. The one I was wearing when we met, Finn." Chlorella said. She then held out the relic for Finn to hold and see. "What does it look like for you?" She asked, turning around to see it.

Finn could very clearly see what the relic was to him. It was a stone, with a scorch mark on one side; the rock he had used to "kiss" Flame Princess without overloading her emotions.

"Um...it's a rock with a scorch mark. Long story." Finn said. Tossing the relic forward, Jake molded a hand out of his back and caught it. "What do you see, Jake?" He asked.

The hand stretched down to Jake's face, and Jake quickly replied, "Whoa. It's mom's hat, Finn. The one she always used to wear." After staring down at the prized possession for a second longer, Jake reluctantly passed the relic to Chlor, who passed it back to Finn.

"How does this magic work?" Finn asked, cradling the scorched stone.

"I don't know. It's much too complex for us to understand." Chlorella said. So the team abandoned any thought of how the relics worked and just let Jake carry them northwest.

"So, Finn." Chlorella began a conversation without even turning to look at Finn himself. "Getting the first relic was pretty easy. We'll be over with this in no time!" She said with a perky tone.

"I think they're just luring us into a false sense of security, Chlor." Finn didn't want to break her streak of happiness, but she had to know this. "So that when we come to the next guardian of the next relic, we'll be easily killed."

"Makes sense." Chlorella said after thinking for a moment.

"You doing OK?" Finn asked her, even though he didn't want to bring up the whole "Nathaniel" thing again. Jeez, today was just full of unpleasant topics for him.

"Yeah. I realized now that you're right about fate." Chlorella said. "I'm really grateful, Finn. Grateful that you can help me, and that I can help you. You're completely right. It all fits." She explained this all to him, still surprised at how well their lives complimented each other.

"You're right. I need you and you need me-" Finn told her.

"-So we're definitely meant to be." Chlorella finished for him. They both laughed at their own pun, and even Jake joined in (he'd been eavesdropping on the conversation). This was a little awkward, but Finn didn't mind it. If Chlor didn't think it was awkward, he didn't think it was awkward. He could ignore the little change in the atmosphere, for her.

"Do you play video games?" Finn asked Chlor, out of the blue. He just wanted to know if she would want to play BMO in the future.

"Well, I've heard of video games, but I've never played one." Chlor explained. "I don't get technology or Wi-fi in the ring."

"No wi-fi? That's bonkus!" Finn recoiled at the very thought. Wi-fi was something you needed to survive, just as much as food or water.

"Well, maybe I can play video games with you once we get back." Chlor suggested.

"That'd be nice. I know you'd love this one game, _Shot Man 2_..."

"What happens in it?"

"You have to make weapons and armor out of food products."

"Sounds cool!"

"Yeah, once I made a set of handcuffs out of donuts and licorice and used them on Jake..."

"Can you make things out of oysters in there?"

"I think you can use the shells. Why?"

"I love oysters. They're my favorite food."

"Really?"

"Yeah! Dipped in a special red sauce..."

You can imagine that Finn and Chlorella talked all day long, nearly driving Jake insane. When they finally made camp in their usual triangle formation, but without a campfire, Finn and Chlorella went back and forth through each other's tents, talking and chatting all night, and playing games. When they were finished messing around, they were so tired that Finn just grabbed his sleeping bag and had a sleepover in Chlorella's tent. Feeling her nature magic infused in the air, knowing that her warm mass was right beside him, and knowing that they would someday be together soothed Finn to sleep.

When Finn woke up, he saw that Chlorella was awake and dressed already, messing with her hair and waiting for Finn to wake up. She was wearing a dress made of pink rose petals that reached her knees, and her hair was done in a single twist hairstyle. When she saw Finn's eyes open, she smiled.

"How'd you sleep?" She asked, still fiddling with her hair.

"Pretty good, how about you?" Finn

"Slept like a baby." Chlorella said happily.

"Is Jake up yet?" Finn asked, sitting up and freeing his upper body form his sleeping bag.

"I don't think he was feeling good this morning. You should check on him." Chlorella reported, throwing her hair back. "You're gonna have to leave the tent anyways. I need to get ready."

"Kay, then." Finn replied, and he left the tent without even dressing and crossed the large campsite to the entrance of Jake's large, yellow tent.

"Jake?" Finn called into the tent. There was no response, so Finn unzipped the tet and stepped inside.

The interior of Jake's tent was simply decorated. There was a bundle of blankets to create a bed for him, a bundle of supplies in the bottom right-hand corner, and a picure of Jake, Lady Rainicorn, Finn, and the puppies strung up on the tent behind the bed. Jake was lying in the dog bed, his back facing Finn.

"Jake, you awake?" Finn asked, crouching over Jake's form and prodding his shoulder.

"Hm?" Jake mumbled, his back still facing Finn. "Yeah, I'm up." He said groggily.

He finally turned to face Finn, and he had something in his arms.

"What is that?" Finn asked. The object was shaped like an egg, only much bigger. The object itself was maroon, with a dark orange stripe across the middle. It seemed to be bumpy and chunky on the outside, and a small crack ran down from the top to the middle.

"I think it's a kind of egg." Jake said. With a tremendous yawn, he finally stood up and faced Finn. He had large bags under his eyes, showing that he had not slept. "I went outside to take a bathroom break, and when I came back to the camp, this was sitting right in front of my tent." Jake held up the egg so that Finn could see it better. "I don't know what it is, but I couldn't just leave it. I have experience with kids and babies, my fatherly instinct made me pick it up. Blame the instinct!" Jake explained, raising his voice.

"Do you have any idea what it's gonna hatch into?" Finn asked.

"Nah, man." Jake asked, yawning hugely.

"Well, we gotta get ready. We can take that thing along, but if it hatches into something dangerous, we have to ditch it or kill it."

Jake's eyes widened, but he mannged to say, "OK."


	15. Chapter 15: So Close Yet So Far

Chapter Fifteen

So Close, Yet So Far

The ride on Jake's back was pretty uneventful until the trio had been riding for about two hours. Then, Jake began to speak up.

"Erm, guys." Jake called to Finn and Chlor, who were talking about various fencing styles. "I think the egg's gonna hatch."

"Already?" Finn asked. Jake nodded as he shrank to the ground. Finn and Chlor dismounted.

"What do you think it's going to be?" Chlor asked with a soft voice. She was picking at Aceline's sheath nervously.

"I don't know." Finn replied. Jake merely shrugged and placed the wobbling egg on the ground.

The egg was really getting some air. It was vibrating strangely, and rolling back and forth. It had many other small fissures along its bumpy surface.

"This is kinda creeping me out." Chlorella spat out.

"What's wrong with it?" Jake asked her as the egg rolled onto its side.

"It's just, I've never seen anything hatch before, or be born." She admitted, twiddling her thumbs.

"You should be excited, then." Jake told her, while Finn politely eavesdropped on the conversation, half watching the egg with his Blade of Grass ready.

"Yeah." Chlor smiled, kicking a pebble. "I'm so stupid sometimes, I swear."

"No you're not." Finn insisted. Chlor turned to look at him, blushing. "You're smart enough to do tons of things I'll never be able to do." Finn kept his eyes on the egg, and Chlor gave a light laugh. He was speaking from the heart.

"Finn..." Chlor began shyly, blushing beet-red.

"Oh my glob, look at it!" Jake interrupted the sweet moment.

The cracks in the egg's shell were widening, like hands stretching to meet. As the cracks widened, the egg seemed to send an aura around the trio. The aura put Finn in the mood for love, and when a wave of it washed over him, he just wanted to walk over and tell Chlor how much she meant to him. He was convinced now that the egg was something that he should let live.

As he glanced at Jake and Chlor, he saw that they were having similar reactions. Jake was swaying with his eyes half-shut, like he was having a beautiful dream. Chlor also had her eyes half-shut, and she turned to look at Finn. She was surely having the same reaction.

Like a drifting cloud, the two walked slowly towards each other. Chlor stared into Finn's eyes with her beautiful, dreamy expression that made Finn melt inside. She really _did_ like him.

Finn's instinct sent his hand up, and he cradled Chlorella's cheek lovingly. She also seemed to lean into it, swaying slightly, while the aura's sickly sweet scent strengthened and the egg's cracks widened even more so.

"I really like you." The words floated out of Finn's mouth like the aura came from the egg. The atmosphere made this sound sweet and romantic, not awkward as it usually would have been.

"I like you too." Chlorella said dreamily. At the same moment, Finn and Chlorella leaned towards each other. Chlorella tilted her head slightly to the side to prevent nose bumping, and she began to close her eyes, and Finn did so as well. Chlorella gently placed her hands behind Finn's neck, and Finn slid his own hands off of her cheek and onto Chlor's waist.

This was it. Finn was about to smooch his dream girl.

_I really need to thank the aura after this_, Finn thought to himself, as he slowly neared Chlorella's awaiting lips. As he neared her, Finn started to notice the aura more, strangely. The formerly loving aura that had been projected was now sickly sweet, like dark chocolate, not as innocent as before.

Chlorella's nose brushed Finn's face. They were so close...

The aura was very strong, with a dark air to it, and it rang a bell in Finn's mind. Then he recognized the new aura; evil.

"Stop!" Finn yelled out. Chlorella automatically threw her hands away from Finn's neck, and stepped back without a smooch. Jake blinked and turned to look at Finn.

"What's wrong, dude?" Jake asked, not recognizing the evil aura yet.

"Yeah, Finn, what happened there?" Chlorella asked. Now that he aura had been broken, the failed smooch was awkward, and Chlor spoke with a small voice, like she'd been hurt.

"The aura. Take it in! It's evil! It's disguised itself to be good, so that the evil thing inside can hatch." As Finn said this, he saw Jake and Chlor really examine the aura, and their eyes widened when they realized what it truly was.

"We have to kill it!" Chlor spurted out, unsheathing Aceline. Even Jake nodded in agreement, growing his hands/paws to be gigantic fists, which he used to smash the egg.

Or tried to, at least. When Jake came close to the egg, he was stopped by some sort of invisible force field. He repeatedly tried to break it, but it didn't budge, while the egg began to emit a sort of black gas that somehow escaped the force field.

"What should we do?" Chlor asked, holding Aceline at the ready.

"Let me try." Finn ran forward and tried to slice the shield with his Blade of Grass, but it proved just as worthless as Jake's attempt. As he did this, he inhaled some of the black gas. It proved to be just a bad, dark smell, but he still didn't trust it.

"Nothing happened, but guys, avoid the gas." Finn reported, and Chlor and Jake stepped away from the gas.

"We can't kill it if it's close to the gas!" Chlor stated, as more and more gas floated around and through the air.

"I don't know!" Finn wanted to say. But as he tried to make words piece together, he found that he couldn't speak. His throat was being clogged by something that was nothing; the black gas.

Finn tried to talk, but his mouth didn't even move. It just froze in an O shape.

The gas caused Finn to tremble, shaking uncontrollaby. His sword even wrapped back up onto his wrist, being controlled by the gas.

Finn began to feel woozy. He swayed on the spot, unlike he had when the good aura was being projected. It was a nauseous feeling, that made Finn want to puke.

Right then, Chlor stopped backing away from the gas and noticed him. Finn only had time for her to call out his name in a horrified tone before he blacked out.


	16. Chapter 16: A Farmworld Dream

Chapter 16:

A Farmworld Dream

"Finn? Honey, are you awake? Finn..."

Finn's eyes slowly opened to see his mother's anxious face, her dirty blonde hair falling into her eyes. Just the image of her made the strange feeling in Finn's chest flutter away. His mother could make anything better, at any time.

"Mom?" Finn looked around to see that he was lying in a hospital bed in a dingy room. "Where am I?"

"You were in a coma, honey." told him, gently pushing her son back onto his pillow. "It's a strange case...the doctors said you could leave right when you woke up."

"Hang on...why was I in a coma?" Finn asked gently, due to his mother's harried and tired-looking face.

"Like I said, honey, it's a strange case." She took Finn's hand in her own, comforting him. "I found you on the floor of your room, and took you here. I was so afraid..." Her voice cracked towards the end as she wiped her teary eyes and sniffled.

"So I..." Finn looked around. "I can go?"

"Yes, but since you seem well enough, and we really need some cheese, I have to go grocery shopping." Finn's mother stood from the creaky bed. "Your friend is going to take you home." And then a farmiliar face entered the room.

The girl had brown eyes, brown hair, and the form of an average girl Finn's age, but her resemblance to Finn or any other human being stopped there. Her skin was tinted a very strange shade of green, instead of being peachy soft.

"Hey, dingus." The girl said softly, walking to Finn's bedside to stand next to his mother, who smiled fondly at her son's friend.

Finn smiled, happy to see his friend as well. "Hey, Chlor."

"Hey." Farmworld Chlorella smiled lightly. "You look nice." She teased.

"So do you." Finn countered with a grin.

Chlorella lightly punched Finn's shoulder and rubbed her green arm. She was green because she had cancer, and a freak accident with some weird radiation therapy had left her cells stained with green. Her hair had also been green, but she had dyed it to be brown, like it had been before the accident.

"Alright, you two, have fun." gave her son one more assuring look before leaving the room.

Chlor watched her go, and after she was sure that had left the hospital, Chlor grabbed Finn's hand and pulled him off the hospital bed using sheer strength.

"C'mon, Finn." Chlorella grabbed Finn's wrist and led him down the corridor of the hospital.

"Where are we going?" Finn asked as Chlor led him down a set of slippery stairs.

"You'll see." She said, stifling a giggle.

When the pair reached the exit of the hospital, they saw Finn's dog, Jake, waiting for them with a clueless sort-of smile on his dog face.

"Hey, mom must have left him here for me." Finn said, scratching behind Jake's ear. The loyal dog barked and licked the exposed parts of Finn's ankles.

"We're going over there." Chlor pointed towards the edge of the cliff on which the hospital was built. Far below, waves crashed angrily against the dirt foundation, like an angry giant.

Trotting over to the cliff's edge with Finn and Jake, Chlor sat down and stuck her head over the edge, inhaling the salty air.

"I love that smell." She said as Finn sat down and Jake plopped down on his little rump.

"Yeah." Finn agreed, giving a little nod of his head. "It's...nice."

Chlorella gave a dreamy sigh to nobody in particular and rested her chin in her hands, letting the sea breeze cool her hot face and blow back her smooth hair.

Finn had no idea why Chlorella had taken him here. He just went along with whatever was happening and awkwardly sat behind her, watching the breeze blow her hair back.

"Y'know, it _was_ a funny story, wasn't it?" Chlorella quietly asked, without taking her eyes off the crashing waves below.

Finn was caught off guard. "W-what was a funny story?"

Chlorella rolled her eyes teasingly and turned to face Finn. "How we met, dingus." She gave one of her dazzling smiles.

"Oh, yeah." Finn replied, recalling the event. The two had met at their school. Finn was being teased by the popular kids.

"Robot boy!" They called him, pelting him with their bits of food. Finn was prepared to fight them, and just before he could throw the first punch with his good arm, Chlor had dashed in the middle of it all, facing the popular boys, who laughed at her attempt to heed them over.

"Oh, look, it's lima bean!" They had called her. They started to play Chicken, with Chlor nor the boys backing down or advancing. "What a freak." They muttered amongst themselves. Chlorella stared on with a defiant face, and Finn was angered for her interrupting.

"Get out of here!" He had whispered harshly into her ear.

"Shut up or I'll kick you where the sun doesn't shine." She had replied. So of course Finn shut up.

The game of chicken had continued until the leader of the pack of boys advanced on Chlor, his fists ready to swing.

The boy made a dive for her cheek, but Chlor ducked and dodged that easily. She tried for a punch in the nose but the boy smacked her hand away and attemped to punch her gut, which was a mistake. Grabbing his outstretched fist, Chlor turned and pinned his arm behind his back, and kicked the astonished boy in the crotch, while his cowardly friends stared on with shocked expressions.

The boy crumpled to the ground as Chlor took her spot yet again in front of an astonished Finn. Seeing this display, the cronies nonchalantly walked away, their hands in their pockets and leaving their friend on the floor.

"That's taken care of." Chlorella said to herself, and she turned to face Finn with an expression that said, "Now I have to deal with _you_."

"Um." Finn blushed awkwardly. "Tha-" But his "beautiful" word of thanks was interrupted by Chlor punching him in the face. "Toughen up!" She had said, and ran away from him. Now, almost a year later, they were close friends.

"I'm glad I met you." Chlor decided to say. And with that she turned and gave Finn a kiss.

Finn had never kissed a girl before. The experience was something special; Chlor's lips were smooth and cool, which Finn liked. So he countered back with another kiss, and soon they were kissing lovingly, sharing this moment as Jake howled and cheered them on.


	17. Chapter 17: And Back to Reality

Chapter 17:

And Back to Reality

** Author's Note: I don't mean to confuse anyone, but just so you know, the farmworld thing was a dream that Finn had, caused by the gas, which has abilities to tamper with the mind. Finn does not remember the dream, btw. :) Read on!**

"Finn, man, wake up! Chlor, he'll wake up, I promise he's not-"

"Jake, I can't take it!" A horrible, body-racking sob. "Finn, wake up! Please! I can't stand it!"

Finn's eyes fluttered open to see a fretful Jake, which was nothing compared to Chlorella, who was crying so hard that her body was quivering like it was freezing.

"Chlor, he's awake!" Jake looked very relieved.

Chlor peeked through her fingers that were shielding her face. Once she saw Finn's eyes open, she threw her hands off her face and stared at him, her eyes and mouth wide as saucers.

Silence. For just one minute, anyways. Then Chlor threw herself onto Finn, her head resting on his shoulder, and began to cry again, this time tears of anger.

"Don't you _ever_ do that to me again, dingus!" Chlorella demanded in a watery voice. She took her head off his shoulder and looked at his face, which was grinning slightly.

"Chlor, I'm OK. Don't worry." Finn said, looking into her eyes. Her hair was stuck to her face, which was slick and sticky with sweat.

With a sniffle, Chlor broke eye contact and shuffled off of Finn. "You had me really scared." She said with a watery chuckle, reaching out her hand to assist Finn in getting up.

Once Finn was up and looking around, denying Chlor's persistent attempts to get him to rest more, he took in their surroundings.

"Where are we?" He asked, looking around. The terrain looked exactly the same as before.

"A-after you passed out, I panicked. So we left the egg and dragged you out of the way of the gas." Chlorella explained shakily. "I think the gas stopped spreading when we left, but the point is; s-someone planted that egg for Jake to find. Somebody in the Few Interdie lands i-isn't our friend." Chlorella crossed her arms across her chest, beginning to think deeply.

"We had to drag you pretty far to get away from the gas, but the relic is still to the northeast. And by the way, we're almost out of food, man." Jake said this with no real caution, like it wasn't of great importance.

"I think all I have in my backpack are some apple slices." Finn told his two friends, and after pulling the said apple slices out of his pack, he saw that the apple slices were browning.

"Uck." Finn said, and Chlorella nodded.

"We should eat this now. They won't be good later." Jake reasoned.

"I guess, but then what are we going to eat later?" Finn asked, giving each of his friends three apple slices.

Jake took a bite of a browning apple before replying with a full mouth, "Whell, thur's probly a town or somtn on the way to ta next relic." Jake swallowed his mouthful.

"What are the chances of that, though?" Chlorella countered, and she swallowed her bite of apple before swallowing. "These are dangerous lands."

"Maybe it's a town of dangerous people." Jake said simply, and he finished off his apple slices surprisingly quickly.

"Hey, did you guys notice that we aren't blue from Flambo's potion anymore?" Finn asked around, finishing his third apple slice. It was true; he hadn't noticed that he'd lost his blue coloring.

"Yeah, we _aren't _blue anymore, are we?" Chlorella replied, checking all around her to find no traces of blue.

"Well, I guess the coloring is only temporary. We've never been down in the underworld this long before." Jake licked the apple juice off his lips. "We should get going if we want to find a settlement along the way." So Chlor and Finn yet again took a ride on Jake's back, Finn feeling slightly nervous from the food withdrawal.

Still, there were other things to think about. Who had planted the egg? An enemy, obviously.

Finn stared down at the sea of red rock below him, deep in thought.

_I haven't met anyone here that's unfriendly,in fact, I haven't met anyone else here at all, _Finn thought to himself. _So maybe we'll meet up with the enemy later on._

"Finn?" Breaking out of his thought, Finn noticed that Chlorella was turned around and looking at him, looking worried. "Are you sure you're feeling alright?" She reached out to place a warm hand on his forehead, but Finn shook his head away from her.

"Chlor, I'm fine." Finn insisted. "Honest."

"You're pale." Chlorella noted, staring at his face. "And you're sweating a lot."

It was true. Perspiration was beading Finn's forehead.

"It's just from the heat."

"Finn, please don't shrug this off." Chlor pleaded with him.

"It's not anything important. I'm just hot, that's all."

Chlorella gave an annoyed sigh. "Fine, well, at least take off your hat and cool off!"

"OK, but that's it." Finn said, anger beginning to boil up inside of him. He removed his hat angrily, letting his blonde hair billow down his back.

Chlorella's eyes widened slightly. An awkward atmosphere took charge of the muggy air.

Finn merely held his hat and waited for Chlor to say...whatever she wanted to say.

"I didn't know you had hair, er, hair like...like this. Not that I expected..." Chlor began to blush and stammer. "OK, let me say it simply: You have nice hair." She said, trying for a calm manner.

"Thank you." Finn replied, trying to be as equally calm as her.

"Finn, I'm sorry for all of...this." Chlorella said, gesturing lightly around her.

"What do you mean?" Finn asked, but he had a faint idea of what she was talking about.

"I know I've said it before but, I just want to make sure you're always OK. I wouldn't be able to bear it if something happened to you. To us." Chlor was beginning to sweat. "I hate being dramatic like this, putting you in these awkward situations. It's-"

"-Not like you." Finn finished for her. He knew exactly what she meant; his earlier hunch was right.

"Yes, thank you. It's not like me at all. I'm an easygoing girl." Chlor went on. "Let's forget that ever happened, OK?" It was clear that Chlorella was in an awkward position and state of mind. She just wanted to turn over a new leaf.

"I'm afraid, I cannot do that, Chlor." Finn said with a polite manner.

"Why not?" Chlor demanded.

Finn gave her a grin. "'Cause forgetting _anything_ that I ever did with you is bonkus. I could never do that. Sorry."

Chlorella lowered her head slightly and smiled.

"You know exactly what to say. All the time. You _have_ to be a wizard." Chlorella made a comically suspicious face. "You _are _a wizard, aren't you?"

Finn laughed and lightly pushed Chlor's shoulder. "I was once."

"Sure, sure." She gave her usual light laugh and swished her hair back. Then, she turned back to face the front of Jake. Cupping her hands around her mouth, she yelled, "Hey, Jake!"

"Yeah?" Jake replied over the loud thomps of his feet.

"Was Finn ever a wizard?" She asked, still with stitches of comical suspicion in her voice.

"Yeah. We trained at the wizard academy or some place earlier when he was, like, thirteen or fourteen." Jake casually replied. "Remember that, Finn?"

"Yeah, man, that was awesome." Finn barely recalled the event, where he was drastically changed into a creature with tiger eyes, wings, and some other perks, in order to stop some sort of meteor from hitting Ooo.

"I bet it was." Chlor agreed. "I'm gonna have to visit that place some time when I'm human." She closed her eyes in relish. "Oh, man, I can't believe this is going to happen. It's going to be great!" She was so excited that she stood straight up, balancing on Jake's back, and did a handstand.

"I just do gymnastics when I feel excited." She explained, switching to one hand and bending a leg.

Finn watched her do her gymnastics for awhile. It was like magic to him, almost. He'd never seen anyone move like Chlor did. It was like her body was made of some sort of liquid, or maybe Jell-O. When he felt himself get tired, he let his eyelids drop, entering a dream he would yet again forget.

"Finn!" Someone was whispering to him and pushing his arm. "Finn! Wake up!"

Finn was awake straight away. Chlor was sitting next to him, and Jake was down close to the ground, in front of what seemed to be a village with scattered houses and huts made of lava rock, and a large castle not unlike PB's, made of the same rock as the ordinary huts and homes.

"Since when did they have villages here?" Finn asked, sliding off Jake's back.

"I don't think they do." Chlor told him, with true suspicion in her voice.

"We should just pass this place up. Who knows what lives here..." Jake looked around at the huts that were scattered mindlessly around as he shrunk back to his normal form.

"But Jake, we really need some food. We haven't even found the second relic yet, and we'll starve before we can find everything." Finn reasoned. It was true, Finn was already hungry again, and he was sure that everyone else was hungry as well.

"I'm with Finn on this one." Chlor said, brushing the strands of hair out of her eyes. "Sorry, Jake, but I'm bloobs hungry."

Jake took another look at the huts around the area.

"OK, fine, but at the first sign of trouble, we move out." Jake said sternly, and he sounded a little bit like his father. "No buts."

"Yes, dad." Finn joked, and he turned and began to walk towards the nearest hut with Chlor and Jake.

"Hello?" Finn asked, once he reached the door. The hut was composed of one room, and it was only a little bit taller than himself at the roof. "Anybody home?" he knocked on the hard door, which suddenly swung open. A fat little fire elemental man walked out of the door, and once he saw the travelers, a huge grin spread across his face. "Visitors!" He screamed in a very high-pitched voice, before Finn could say anything to him. "Visitors, everyone! Visitors!"

At this, all the doors of all the houses were thrust open, and hundreds of little fire elementals of all different ages, heights, and sizes rushed towards the trio.

"Visitors! Visitors!" They chanted as they formed a circle around Jake, Finn, and Chlor. "Visitors! Friends! People! Newbies! Visitors! Friends! People! Newbies!"

"Wh-hoa!" Finn cried as the mob suddenly hoisted him and his friends up onto their shoulders. "Let me go!" An edge began to creep into his voice, but the little people didn't relent. Jake and Chlor looked uncomfortable as well, thrashing slightly in the grasp of the fire elementals.

"Friends! Friends! Friends!" The chant was continued as the fire elementals paraded Jake, Finn, and Chlor around the now-empty town like prizes. Once, Chlor managed to bob closer to Finn, to his great relief.

"We need to get out of here!" Finn whispered under all the noise.

"But they're so harmless, and cute! Too weak to hurt us!" Chlor replied, grinning slightly. Then, she was thrust away from Finn, and the conversation ended, while Jake was still stuck in the back, trying to get away.

"We need to take them to see the queen!" One of the fire elementals shouted out, although Finn couldn't see which one it was.

"We need to take them to see the queen!" The rest of the elementals began the chant, apparently agreeing with whoever had started it. Changing course, the fire elementals began to giddily march the trio towards the gigantic red castle, and when they reached it, the doors were thrust open, and Finn, Jake, and Chlor were tossed carelessly onto the ground.

"Oof! That hurt!" Chlor called as she rose from the ground, but the group ignored her. Instead, they gathered behind the trio in the back of what seemed to be a throne room.

And of course, a throne room has to have a queen. She was tall and thin, and a fire elemental. Her hair was in a long braid down her back, and she wore a red, floor-length silk dress with a long train, and a heart shaped cut at the neck. She was also wearing a small red tiara that glittered with tiny, star-like black gems. When she sat in her throne of red and black rock, she looks to be thirty years old, although the strangely looked to be around fifteen, no older than Finn or Chlor.

The queen pointed a thin, judging finger at the three and said in a commanding tone, "Who are they?"

The fire elementals didn't even flinch at the harshness of her voice. One of them just marched a step forward and replied, "They're visitors, your majesty!" The elemental gave a little bow.

The harshness in the queen's tone and face disappeared. A snake-like smile spread across her face, which gave Finn an air of suspicion, which was wiped away by her next act.

"Poor guys!" She clasped her hands together and made a loving face. "They must be starving half to death by now. My subjects! Prepare a party for them, a feast, in fact, prepare the best delicacies, and bring them out now! But make sure it is still a proper party, though!" Waving her hand, her minions sped off faster than Speedy Gonzales. Within minutes, Finn, Chlor, and Jake were marveling at the newly prepared party, which featured a square of buffet tables, laden with the rarest delicacies anybody could find. Streamers were flying in every direction, and music boomed from portable boomboxes. The elementals began to dance to the music, and they also urged the trio to try the many foods offered at the buffet tables.

"Try the Lava Tartlet!" They would cry. Or, "Take a serving of Creme de Fleme!" And soon, Finn, Chlor, and Jake found themselves well fed, happy, and entertained like never before.

**Chlorella's POV**

"Isn't this delicious?"

I was standing next to Jake and Finn at the buffet tables, which were laden with delicious food and drink that were so fancy I couldn't even name them. I had no idea what else to try, because there were so many options.

"Oh my glob, Chlor, you have to try this!" Finn called, holding a piece of some sort of tart with a pair of tongs. Taking it from the tongs and popping it in my mouth, I found that it was a sugary tartlet, filled with a vanilla icing. The tart was so rich that, when added to what I had already consumed, I became full.

"Hey, Finn, pass me a piece of that tart." Jake asked, seeing how much I loved it. As Jake added a piece of tart to his already overflowing plate, he turned and began to look for a table to sit at.

That left Finn and I alone at the buffet table, since the other elementals had already taken their helpings.

"This is such an amazing party." I gushed to Finn, as he wedged a piece of meat onto his plate.

"Yeah. The music is pumpin', the food is mathematical...this is definitely the best party I've ever been to." Finn looked around to find that Jake was sitting at a table with many fire elementals, who had all wanted to sit with at least one of us. "It looks like Jake's table is full."

"Yeah." Poor Jake. Those elementals were probably annoying him. "Want to try and find a table together?"

"Sure."

It didn't take us very long to find an empty table, since most of the elementals were out dancing. As Finn and I took our seats on the rounded tables, we started to watch the dancers while sharing the noms from Finn's plate. (Apparently, the queen had a whole group of tall fire elemental ladies who would dance to entertain her guests, and she had brought them out for the party. They were easily the best dancers I had ever seen.)

Finn cut himself a piece of meat and gestured to one of the dancers with his fork. "That dancer looks different than all the rest of them. I wonder why." It was true. The dancer he was gesturing to was taller and thinner than all the other dancers.

"I dunno." I helped myself to a bite of some red fruit from Finn's dish and shrugged. "Maybe she's the leader?"

"Eh." Finn twirled his fork around, looking kind of bored. "It's not really that important."

I began to feel alarmed. I mean, I really like Finn. I do. I can't stand to see him unhappy, or bored, or hurt.

"Are you bored?" I asked him, picking the crumbs off his now-clean plate.

"Yeah." He sat up straight in his chair and cleaned the crumbs off his shirt. "Just a little."

That was enough for me. Grabbing Finn's hand and dragging him along, I managed to bring him over to where the dancers were, ignoring his protests.

"C'mon, Finn, I know you're bored. Don't you try to deny it!" I added, as he opened his mouth to protest.

"Chlor, I can't dance!" He protested.

"What about the time we danced at PB's party? Huh? You call that, "not dancing?" I joked with him.

"That was different." Finn insisted, scuffing his foot on the linoleum.

"Why don't you want to dance?" I asked, letting the concern creep into my tone.

Sensing my concern, Finn began to cave in. "It's-it's nothing, Chlor. Come on, let's dance."

"Nope! Now you have to tell me why you're so bored." I crossed my arms across my chest and gave him my ''stubborn'' look.

Finn grinned and placed a hand on his forehead. "I swear, Chlor, you're the most stubborn and persistent girl I've ever met...and that's one of the reasons why I like you so much." We shared a laugh, and Finn's face took on a more mysterious and conservative expression. Sensing the need to whisper, I lowered my voice.

"OK, now tell me. I can't bear watching you be unhappy."

"I didn't want to tell you why I was bored because, well..." He glanced around the room. "I really don't trust these people. They're too innocent to be genuine. I knew that my uneasiness would make you bored as well, so...I just didn't talk about it." He whispered.

Relief flooded my body. "That's it?" I looked up to find that his face was poker straight- he totally meant it. "Finn, you're just a teddy bear, you know that?" I tried to avoid the subject on whether these people were evil or not, because I didn't want this to end up in a fight.

Luckily, Finn never got the chance to say anything back to me. Right at that moment, the queen decided to arise from her throne and come over to us.

"Hello, travelers!" She said with a regal air, like she was thirty or something, even though she was around my age. "How are you doing?"

"Good, just fine." I reassured her.

"Great." Finn added.

"Did you try all the delicacies?" She pushed on, adjusting her crown.

"Yeah, they were by far the best foodstuffs that I've ever had." Finn joined in.

The queen seemed to take notice of Finn for the first time. Personally, I didn't like the way she stared at him, like he was a gleaming trophy, but I didn't say anything. Finn looked awkward and stiff as well, but he remained as silent as me.

"Well, how rude of me!" The queen tore her eyes off of Finn and looked to me. "I don't even know your names! Who might you be?"

"Well, I'm Chlorella-"

"That's nice, that's nice." The queen rushed me. She turned to Finn again. "And what's _your_ name?"

Finn scuffed his boot on the linoleum and tried to avoid eye contact with the queen, who was pushing into Finn's personal space bubble.

"Finn." He murmured.

The queen let out a very loud air of astonishment. "It couldn't be-Finn the human? The once boyfriend of the now Flame Queen?" She went on, and the other elementals began to stare at her.

"Wait...WHAT?!" I exclaimed, staring at Finn. The queen gave me a look as more elementals began to stare at me. "Finn, you didn't tell me-"

"Oh my gob, Chlor, just...oh my gob." I got the feeling that he was talking more to himself than to me as he placed a hand on his forehead yet again.

"Didn't you hear?" The queen joined in. "They dated for quite awhile, that's who he had his first smooch with!"

"...What?" I asked softly.

"Chlor, that was awhile ago. I didn't know you back then." Finn was trying so hard to be calm. "Please don't be mad..."

"I'm not mad at you, Finn. It's just that...you should have told me this earlier. You know about my past with..._them_." I placed both hands on my face and took a deep breath. The party was now in a silence, besides the music blaring from the speakers, and everybody was staring at us. "I'm simply...disappointed...in you."

Finn took his hand away from his face. His eyes were lined with tiny tears. "I never got around to-"

"No, no, Finn, it's fine, you don't need to explain." I wiped the drops of chlorophyll that were beginning to form away from my eyes. "You can continue with the party, I'll just be waiting outside..." I turned away from him and the queen of the village and headed towards the gigantic doors of the castle. The little elementals scurried out of the way for me, which was a good thing, because I probably wouldn't have stopped for them in the hazy state that I was in.

Nobody tried to stop me. Not even Finn, or Jake, the queen, or any of the elementals. But as I turned to close the doors, I got another peek of the room. The party was continuing without me. The elementals were beginning to dance again. The queen even turned and asked Finn to dance, to which he sorrowfully nodded. My absence was unnoticed.

**Author's Note:**

**Hello guys! I just want to apologize for not sticking to the schedule set in my profile. I was on vacation for three days and there was no wi-fi for me to reach , and I'd forgotten my computer, so I couldn't even upload what I'd written. So, yeah, I hope you all forgive me :) Bai! -thepencilunleashed**


	18. Chapter 18: The Evil Inside Her

Chapter Eighteen:

The Evil Inside Her

"You're a magnificent dancer!" The queen gushed.

"...Thanks." Finn replied sulkily, with one hand on the queens waist and the other outstretched to meet hers. "I think I should go and check on how Chlor is doing..."

"No, no, you don't need to do that!" The queen frantically called. "She's fine, she's fine, trust me! Women just like time to themselves!"

Finn thought this over for a minute, and decided that he should give Chlor some alone time. "Well, if you say so..." He unwillingly agreed.

The queen squeaked with excitement. "I think you've made the right choice. Women can be _so_ dramatic. But I'm not! I'm ordinary." She said in her regal voice.

_Sure, sure,_ Finn thought to himself. _And I'm a princess. _He reluctantly spun the queen in a circle.

"You're enjoying the party, right?" The very tone of her voice annoyed Finn greatly.

"Of course, your majesty, I love it." He said in an emotionless tone.

"You don't have to call me your majesty. My name is Silena." The queen danced to the right and into a crowd of fire elementals, stepping on many of their feet. They grumbled in annoyance.

"Alright, Silena. Um, were you born in this village?" Finn urged himself to make small talk with the queen, in order to keep her on his good side.

"No, I lived in a neighboring village, but it was destroyed by the previous leader of this village, while_ I_ was queen in _my_ village. So I rounded my troops, came to this village, and slaughtered the entire king, his army, and anyone who didn't fear us. Now I'm queen, and the subjects have been brainwashed to worship me. Don't tell anyone!" She whispered excitedly into Finn's ear.

Finn didn't say anything back.

"So, tell me about yourself." Silena urged him.

"Not much to tell." Finn said simply.

"Oh come on! I know there's a lot to you." She nudged.

Now Finn was beginning to crawl back into his comfort zone. "Well, Jake and I live in this tree house in the world above. We fight stuff." He said nonchalantly.

At this, Silena dropped Finn's hand and removed his other form her hip. She gave Finn a mysterious, pleased look. "I know where we can go."

"W-what do you mean?" The alarms began to sound in the back of Finn's mind.

"My garden. Duh!" Silena exclaimed, placing her hands on her hips. "It'll calm your mind."

Finn figured that it was worth a shot. "OK, then."

Silena squealed in delight like a pig and grabbed Finn's hand, leading him away from the party, while Finn hoped that Chlorella wouldn't walk in and see this.

Once Silena reached the right of her throne, she opened a door that Finn had never noticed before, and the queen excitedly led Finn by the hand into the enchanted garden.

The garden was a bit like a maze. Shrubs lined the stone paths, but they only reached Finn's neck, so he could see over them. Flowers bloomed all over; they grew like vines on the shrubs, blossomed near the feet of the hedges, a few were placed in decorative pots, and some were so tall that they grew over Finn's head and the blossom curved to make a sort-of upside-down J shape. Beautiful bonsai trees with golden leaves grew in small pots, giving Finn the feeling that he was in a magical, sacred place. All in all, the garden was-

"Beautiful. Right, Finn?" Silena asked, caressing the blossoms of a dangling flower to her right.

"Yeah, yeah. Awesome." Finn tried to act interested, but he wasn't really the kind to start gushing over a beautiful flower. He just wanted to see if he could smooth talk Silena into taking some of the plants that may be edible, or may have medicinal value.

"You really like it?" Silena nudged on, with a tone resembling a toddler's.

"Yeah, Silena. It's gorgeous, and I'm, like, really interested in it. So, by any chance, would some of these plants be used for food or healing purposes?" Finn brought on this lightly, as to not give Silena the wrong idea.

Silena placed a dainty hand on her chest and laughed a regal laugh, throwing her head back and causing her braid to flop. "Of course, Finn, loads of these plants were used to make your feast, in fact! And many of them are used for healing."

"Could I see some of the ones that are used for those purposes, maybe?" Finn asked, letting his suave creep into his voice.

Silena seemed to swoon, just a tiny bit. "Yes, yes Finn, come this way." She folded her hands on her lap and began to walk through the confusing rows of the maze, Finn following close behind her as to not get lost.

When they seemed to be deep within the maze, Silena finally stopped, and she knelt to examine a small, yellow Tulip-like flower that still seemed to be a bud.

"Now, Finn, this is the good stuff. This flower may seem to be a bud, but when you open it up, there are these marble-sized yellow balls. If you eat one, it heals any wounds you have, and it tastes like honeysuckle." Silena gushed, stroking the bud.

Green light! Green light! "So, Silena, by any chance, could you spare one of those buds for the quest I'm on, y'know, in case we get hurt?" Finn let the suave pour into his voice.

Silena didn't waste any time responding. "Yes, Finn, you can take all the buds you like!"

Jackpot!

"OK, thanks Sil!" But as Finn knelt to pick the bud, Silena lightly slapped his hand away.

"You'll have to wait for that. Come with me, I have some more things to show you." The excitement was unmistakeable in Silena's squeaky voice. Quickly, she stood up, and almost dragged Finn away from the bud.

Finn struggled to reach his feet as Silena dragged him, and the alarms began to sound in the depths of his mind again. "How will you find the buds again? This maze is huge!"

But reasoning didn't work. Silena just trudged on, keeping her vice-like grip on Finn's wrist, and only stopped once she had reached one of the yellow Bonsai trees from before, and she didn't release her grip even then.

"Now, Finn, pay close attention! If you pluck the leaves off these trees, they actually taste delicious, just like a potato chip. Moving on! We'll get to those later." And then she was off again, her grip still tight on Finn's wrist.

"Silena, you can let me go!" Finn tried to reason yet again with her.

"Oh, Finn, no I can't! You'll just run away!" Silena crooned to him, like he was a little toddler.

Finn decided that it was time to go, whether Silena liked it or not. Luckily, the wrist she grabbed wasn't the one with his Blade of Grass on it, and with a clash of metal the sword reached its full form. But as Finn raised the sword for a strike, Silena turned around, punched Finn in the gut, as quick as a lightning flash, and swiped the sword from his hand, placing it on her own wrist.

"Finn!" Silena sounded hurt, insulted. "Why...why would you do that?" Her grip was released from Finn's wrist, but Finn was immobile due to the pain in his gut. Silena's fists felt like they were made of iron. Definitely not what you'd expect from a girl his age.

Once Finn could stand straight up, Silena snatched his wrist yet again, and she kept the betrayed expression on her face. It was so convincing that Finn was wondering whether she was actually betrayed, faking it, or just insane. Probably the latter.

"Silena, I...I didn't mean it!" Finn was clutching at straws for any way to avoid angering Silena.

Silena sniffed. "Yes you did! I saw you!" She began to shout. "You're clearly too dangerous to stay around the castle, in this form, anyways." Silena muttered to herself.

"What do you mean, in this form?" Finn was truly alarmed now. He tried to break free of Silena's grip, but she was strong. He didn't even _try_ punching her, since he knew what her fists could do.

Suddenly, a thin smile like the wet track of a creeping snail began to form on Silena's face. It was an insane smile, so she had an insane idea.

"Finn, you must pay your dues for attempting to harm a queen." Silena began in an alarmingly silky voice. She reached towards her hip, revealing that she had a belt on that Finn didn't notice before, because it was the same color as Silena's dress.

Silena reached for a strange pouch of something that was attatched to her belt, and loosened it from its hook. Daintily bringing the pouch to Finn's eye level, she let him look at it for a second before explaining, "I have this pouch of magical powder. When it is sprinkled apon _someone_, meaning you, you will become a flower. This shall be your punishment for attempting to murder me." Silena's face was stone still. It was amazing how her expressions and emotions could change so suddenly.

Finn tried for one last plead. "Silena, please, I didn't mean to. I'm just...I'm crazy! Yes, I'm crazy." It was a long shot.

"Of course you're crazy, Finn, for trying to be with that green monstrosity that you call a girl." Silena rolled her eyes and gave a heckle of insane laughter. "Now, would you prefer to become a-"

Suddenly, Finn heard a _creeeaaak._ The sound of the door to the garden opening. Somebody was coming.

Silena realized this before Finn did, and in a desperate attempt to hide him, she grabbed Finn's wrist yet again and tried to run...

But running was no use. In a large _shus_h sound, all the hedges in the garden disappeared at the same time, leaving their leaves behind in a great flutter. Now that the hedges were gone, Finn could finally see through the garden, and what he saw was fantastic and horrible at the same time; Chlorella was standing at the door to the castle, her arm oustretched from performing the hedge disappearing magic. She was staring at Finn and Silena, and the way that Silena was leading him deep into the maze must have looked horrible in her eyes. Then, she began to run towards them.

A huge knot formed in Finn's stomach as Chlorella began to sprint, tears of Chlorophyll beginning to pool in her eyes.

_ No, Chlor, it's not what you think...don't be mad, I can tell you all about it_.

With an enormous _WHAM_ Chlorella bodyslammed Silena, breaking her grip on Finn and knocking her to the ground. The two girls began to roll around in a great tussle, even though the winner was already chosen. Chlorella, who was sitting on Silena, began to punch her in the face repeatedly. Silena, who was too stunned by the blows, didn't even think to use Finn's sword, which was wrapped tightly around her wrist. And Finn, poor Finn, was devastated by the fact that Chlorella was angered at Silena and him, but he was also distrubed at how violent she was.

The bruises began to form on Silena's cheeks, and blood began to trickle from her nose and towards her mouth. Yet she laid there like a rag doll, letting the pain be inflicted.

This whole time, Chlorella didn't even look at Finn as the lime green tears dropped from her eyes and onto Silena. Then, gasping and panting, Chlorella stood from the unconcious body of Silena, grabbed her feet, and began to drag her back towards the party, still avoiding eye contact with Finn, who simply watched as Chlorella dragged Silena across the sharp thorns of trampled flowers, the pointy sticks fallen from the shrubs, and across the scraping stone paths.

Finn, poor Finn, I say...he couldn't even speak. All he could do was follow Chlorella quietly, while keeping his distance as she finally mannaged to drag Silena through the door and into the party, with bruises on her face and scum through her hair.

"Chlorella, wait! Don't do that..." Finn attempted to shout, but he couldn't speak or make any sounds.

Once Silena was dragged in, Chlorella slammed the door behind her, leaving Finn out in the garden, alone.

_I have to brace myself, _Finn thought, in his haze of a mind. _I have to stop Chlor._ Placing his hand on the door and taking a deep breath, Finn stepped into the party.

It was almost as bad as the garden. The whole party, including Jake, had formed a semicircle around Chlorella and the limp body of Silena. Chlorella was breathing heavily, her hair sticking out wildly, and staring at the fire elementals while walking in a slow circle around Silena. Nobody tried to interferre or save their ruler, not even Jake. Everybody was just so...stunned.

"Do you see this girl?" Chlorella shouted. Her voice echoed in the silence, causing the little fire elementals to whimper. "This girl...is a DISGRACE to you all!" Chlorella jabbed her finger at Silena's body, which was now bleeding onto the floor. And then, the beating began again. This time it was kicking, kicking onto her face, her side, her stomach. Just violent kicking, everywhere. Nobody tried to interferre. They were stunned yet again.

Several heart-wrenching minutes passed, the thumps of the kicks echoing in the absence of noise. Finally, when Chlorella did stop, she was sweating all over, and her hair was a rat's nest. Silena had bruises all over her face and body, which were now becoming black, blue, and purple. More blood dripped fom her body and onto the flood, creating streaks of red which were the same color as her torn dress.

Chlorella knelt down beside the limp body of the ruler and studied her work. With bloodied fingers, she rolled Silena onto her back, and brushed the hair from her face.

Chlorella stuck out her thumb, and placed it on Silena's bruised and bloodied forehead. Taking a breath, Chlorella used a spell.

"In this time, it is right, I use my might, forget the actions that happened tonight." At these words, a bright light gleamed from between Silena's forehead and Chlorella's thumb, signaling that the spell was a success. Then, Chlorella stepped out to face the crowd of Silena's subjects, and said the same spell, but with a different chant.

"With the power vested in me, you all forget this night, all twenty-three." With these words, Chlorella slid her thumb to the right, and a spot on each of the foreheads of the citizens gleamed, and they simply flopped to the ground, entering a deep sleep. Now, the only people who were awake were Finn, Jake, and Chlor, standing in a silence.

With a voice like broken glass, Chlorella said to the air around her, rather than to Finn and Jake, "I'm going to go see what I can scavenge from the garden." And so Chlorella brushed by Finn and Jake and into the garden, without a direct word to either of them.

Once she was gone, Jake turned to Finn. "Dude...what happened?" Finn merely shook his head and stared at the door that Chlorella had just exited through. He'd never known that there was evil inside her.

Hello, everyone. This is thepencilunleashed. I hate to put this message after a chapter like this, but I need you all to know this; Beings in Need has reached FIVE THOUSAND VIEWS! I'm SO EXCITED! In my profile, you can vote on what I should do to celebrate! Please vote, I have no idea what I should do at all! :) Thank you guys so much! -thepencilunleashed


	19. Chapter 19: Trust Me

Chapter Nineteen:

Trust Me

**Author's Note: Hey guys, I think I'll be making this a POV story from now on. Two chapters of the regular Finn-view, then one chapter of Chlorella. Let me know if I should continue! Also, voting for my 5000 view celebration is still open in my profile, so keep the votes flowing :D Thanks! (Also, lets cover this; Chlorella has no choice in feeling the life sources of the plants near the tree house and in her ring, but she can choose to feel the life sources of plants away from her home.) Now, read and review! :)**

**Chlorella**

No...it can't be true.

I shouldn't be thinking about that right now...

Ugh, me and my stupid mind.

I'm on my knees in the ruined garden, staring at a strange little blossom to the right of a path. It has the appearance of a water lily, but it seems to be filled with some weird orbs.

I take a somber breath. "You're just a little sprout, aren't you?" I stroke the petals and the blossom seems to pucker in delight and emit a warm glow. "Yes, just a little baby." I can sense the conditions of all the plants around me, and they definitely aren't happy. They're meant to be grown in cool, wet places, and they're only alive due to some weird magic. Poor little things. But I can't help them.

I give the blossom a solitary nod and lean closer to it. "You're young...I wish I was young like you. Sure, I'm just a teenager, but I wish I was just a few minutes younger, so I could undo...this." I gesture to the plants around me, but I'm really thinking of her. That fire elemental.

The blossom begins to emit a brighter glow from my stroking. "I don't know what happened to me...I guess it was just instinct. I didn't mean to. It's just, when I saw her with him...I can't believe he tried to..." Then, anger begins to flow inside of me, filling my body like a liquid. "Why am I even talking to you? You're a plant! You're a stupid, lifeless plant!" The little blossom begins to recoil with every insult I throw at it. "Get...get away from me! GO!" I slap my hand around the blossom and I'm about to uproot it, when a voice behind me says, "Don't!"

It's _him_. I know that voice.

"S-sorry." He sputters. I don't turn around to talk to him. "It wasn't what it looked like."

Anger fills me again and I yank the blossom out of the ground, but the minute it flattens in my hand, I feel a sharp jab inside of me, rather than on a certain spot on my body. Probably because I chose to feel this plant.

With that sudden jolt of pain, I reflexively and stupidly try to reach inside of me with the hand supporting my body, causing me to fall, roll over, and face _him_. His hair is hanging out of his hat, and his face is flushed. Looking at him, I remember the fire elemental girl. That time I lost control, and the whole experience after. But most of all, I remember his face when he was caught with her in the garden. Were they really trying to sneak away? Away from me?

"Finn, if you're lying, you're dead to me." I look up into his face and he flushes brighter.

"I promise that I'm not." You can tell by the tone of his voice that he's desperate. Desperate for what, though? Not to be discovered? For me to forgive him?

I send him one of my death glares, yet he doesn't recoil. "Those don't work on me. I know you too well to know that they're fake."

"What, the glares?" The anger is still stitched heavily into my tone.

"Yeah. And you trying to pretend that you're mad." He accuses.

"I AM mad! Who wouldn't be mad at a time like this? I thought I was the only girl." My voice catches at the end of the sentence.

"You _are_ the only girl! I haven't even had time to explain my part of the story, and to be honest, you're in no position to be mad at me!" His voice raises.

"I-I can be mad at you if I want to!" I try to make a defiant stand, but I just sound disgustingly weak.

"No, you really can't, Chlor! Think back! I've always helped you with everything. I've went along with your jokes, I've lifted your spirits when you're feeling down, and I gave you confidence. What have you done for me in return? What have you truly done to show your love?"

I look up at him, and wait for that handsome smile to take his face and let off the accusatory tone. The sentence seems to take forever to process through my brain. _What have you truly done to show your love? _That isn't good, though, because every second it takes to process is another second in which I look stupid and heartless.

"If only you knew." I manage to say, with a hoarse voice.

"I don't have time for games. What do I not know?" An annoyed tone replaces the accusatory, and Finn begins to pace back and forth on the hot stone path.

"Finn, I wish you knew how silly of a question this is." I finally stand up and get to eye-level with Finn, who stops pacing to listne. "You'll never understand now much I love you. And if I've never shown it, I promise you this...one day, I _will_ show you that you mean so much more than the world to me. I'll show you that I'd do anything for you. Finn, I love you more than words can describe, can tell, can say. Right now, we're not trusting each other's words. So, some day. I'll show you in another way. Just...just trust on this one. Trust me." I'm hoping I don't sound desperate, but in the back of my mind I'm thinking of how accurate of a speech that was.

"...I trust you." Finn finally says after several heart-wrenching moments, and I can finally take a breath.

"You have no idea how much that means to me." I take a step closer as the chlorophyll tears of relief begin to pool in my eyes.

"I think I do." And with that, he gives me one of his handsome, loving smiles that make me melt inside, that signifies he's no longer upset. Relief floods to every corner, every curve, and every crevice of my body. There's no better feeling.

"Now, Finn, what happened with you and Silena out here?" I hate to ruin the moment, but this has to be discussed.

"It was nothing. She took me to the garden to clear my mind after you left the party, I tried to talk her into giving me some edible and medicinal plants, but she got overprotective. I tried ot use my sword to protect myself, but then she got mad and tried to turn me into a flower with some magic dust she had. Then, you came." I'm waiting for more. "That's it."

"I believe you." I truly do.

"You probably know how much that means to me." Finn gives me a goofy smile and I laugh as he pulls me in for a hug.

I bury my face in his shirt and wrap my arms around him. He smells of fresh flowers and pollen. He smells of home. The heat-proof spell must have preserved his smell.

I realize at that moment how homesick I am. But I have to march on. I have to get those relics.

"You've been really brave during this trip." It's like Finn read my mind.

"Thanks." I mutter, and I reluctantly step out of the hug.

"Well, I'm going to see if I can scavenge any food from the party." Just as he's about to leave, he leans towards my face, quick as a flash of lightning, and plants a quick kiss on my cheek. "See you." And he rushes off.

The spot on my cheek tingles with warmth, but I can tell that it wasn't a true kiss. This one was smothered by the laws of my species. The sound of the elders whispering harsh comments into my ear. This one was smothered by guilt. Hopefully, when I'm human, I'll get a real one.

**Hey, guys! It's me again. I apologize for the short length of this chapter. I have a lot going on right now. I'm trying to write a Gravity Falls fanficiton, meanwhile another short-story idea is buzzing around in my head and I feel like It'll have to be put to paper pretty soon. Thanks for your patience!**


End file.
